#the defenders meta

[tremorsmackenzie]

its clowning time

like its never been before.

the echo trailer that dropped yesterday has confirmed daredevil to be canon.

after years of radio silence they suddenly had scenes, the characters referring to past events, the whole deal. cameos for other unnamed characters have already been teased, so maybe we'll see the rest of the defenders.

all of this has been rumored for months, but this is actually happening now.

yall know what this means.

Agents of S.W.O.R.D. when?

#agents of shield #marvel #aos meta #marvel meta #echo #echo meta #daredevil #daredevil meta #the defenders #the defenders meta #i mean theres still rumors of “soft reboot” bla blah blahg but im choosing to be optimistic/delusional #theres a reason its called clowning #agents of sword

[parisoonic]

i am not immune to a meme

#tf2 #team fortress 2 #tf2 fanart #im not tagging everyone #ive got 150+ on medic too but vax is hard man and im a staunch stock defender #i like to go to the gym run a 5km then lift and then play stock medic for an hour with a glass of wine #if anyone is wondering my loadout on heavy is just the standard: tomislav GRU n' sandwich #for pyro its degreaser detonator and third degree #im a manmelter and third degree boy COME AT ME i think they're the SECRET META #the dopamine i get from very situational plays outweighs their drawbacks #sorry cant be arsed to draw medic properly in the bottom left #also yes: i am a redhead

[bitter-ishsweet]

A lot of 2.07 analysis have been about how stede was getting too cocky and needed to "be humbled", and while there may be something to that, i haven't seen mentioned that stede cracked when ed left, but he only broke when he saw zheng recruiting his crew.

This is a guy who hasn't been particularly well liked or respected by his crew (which often is fair), and has been pushed to the side in favor of pirates such as calico jack or zheng herself. Real Pirates.

Well, stede is now a real pirate himself, and ed still left him, just like Ned Low said he would. Stede is a real pirate, and his crew still wants to leave. He saved them from zheng after they killed the love of his life, and they still want to leave to join the very person they had to be saved from, no fucking less.

And say what you will, but the guy chugging alcohol and screaming "i'm a sea god" is not the one that draws the sword.

The guy that draws the sword has tears in his eyes.

#look at stede before the fight starts #like actually look at him #that's not a guy who thinks he's hot shit #that's a guy that KNOWS that he's not hot shit #there are of the og crew 5 people remaining #and one of them is lucius that has been pissed at stede this whole season #regardless of it being justified #if there are 1000 stede defenders im one of them something something #stede bonnet #ofmd #ofmd season 2 #ofmd spoilers #our flag means death #ofmd meta

[littlegaycubeoftofu]

Whenever I see people talk about that first kiss between Ed and Stede, I generally get an undercurrent of having to defend it in some way, and it makes me sad. Because I genuinely do think the kiss is perfect for who those characters are, and it's not a case of finding justification for all the choices in that scene after the fact, but rather believing the scene was genuinely designed to be the way it is.

How many times has Stede been kissed romantically? I'm going to guess at most Mary tried a few times without much success. And Ed? I can easily believe that all his experience with kissing is as a statement of intent to fuck very soon. So there's Ed, unused to kissing as an expression of love, putting all his awkward, shy feelings of tenderness into a kiss that has to show Stede exactly what he's feeling. It's a chaste kiss, a First Kiss for both of them. It's adolescent (look at Ed's freshly shaved face, how they're both stripped of their usual "armour") and ungainly and neither of them knows what to do with his hands, but their love for each other guides their movements (Stede presses forward slightly, Ed cups Stede face so gently and instinctively).

So I won't ever defend that kiss, because it doesn't need me to. It's perfect.

#ofmd #our flag means death #blackbonnet #gentlebeard #stede bonnet #ed teach #ironically now it does sound like i think i needed to defend it #but really i just wanted to talk about my love for it #even if its about a year too late #ofmd meta #of a sort

[azfell-ajcrowley]

The offers that can't be refused: the Metatron-Beelzebub parallels.

Because people keep telling Crowley said no, Aziraphale said yes. Oh, God, give me strength.

Crowley said he rejected Hell's offer, but did he? Let's compare the Beelzebub's and Metatron's methods. Let's find the parallels between the scenes.

The appearance of the superiors is accompanied by bell ringing in both cases.

Crowley and Aziraphale are unpleasantly surprised, they exclaim their superiors' names. Why would such high-ranking bosses personally visit a traitors' hideout?

They remind about the arrangement with their superiors.

The threats: the direct one from Hell, the veiled one from Heaven.

The change of guises.

The flattery.

The knowledge of the Earth as the deciding factor for their choices.

The mentions of Gabriel. It's logical for the conversation with Beelzebub, because the Prince's of Hell motives are already clear. Crowley was summoned for the purpose of finding their beloved Archangel.

What is the reason the Metatron mentions him? And as a benchmark for assessing Aziraphale's actions. From the point of view of the Voice's of God manipulative art, one can understand why. Aziraphale cannot be evaluated on the Michael or Uriel scale, because he himself considers them as bad angels.

And finally, the position offers. Crowley nodds while looking at Beelzebub, Aziraphale says he don't want to go to Heaven.

Bonus: the threats of erasing from the Book of Life. Crowley rushes to Aziraphale intending to save him. And Aziraphale having received additional threats from the Metatron tries to reproduce their conversation for Crowley.

They're the same, Your Honour!

Crowley has refused to be a Duke of Hell just like Aziraphale has agreed to be a Supreme Archangel. Neither of them have responded yes or no.

It's clear this demon lied to Beelzebub, but his angel is also very experienced in this matter. And Aziraphale is accused of doing exactly as Crowley did. Without a chance to get out of it, he decided to keep silent, so as not to incur the wrath of his superior. Namely the Metatron who is even higher in rank than Beelzebub.

#crowley #aziraphale #good omens #good omens meta #good omens analysis #good omens parallels #aziraphale x crowley #good omens 2 #aziracrow #ineffable husbands #ineffable idiots #ineffable divorce #good ineffable omens #ineffable spouses #the final fifteen #final fifteen #the metatron #good omens beelzebub #aziraphale defense squad #aziraphale defender #aziraphale apologist

[finalgirlsamwinchester]

bugs. episode of all time. has a 6.8 star IMDB rating when every other s1 episode averages around 8-9. the opening shot of sam lying sluttily on the hood of the impala. sam and dean being mistaken for a gay couple looking to buy property. sam and dean pretending to be a gay couple looking to buy property. "okay honey". dean slapping sam on the ass? the only time in the show i've seen sam and dean use umbrellas (finding out that kripke never wanted them to use umbrellas bc they weren't manly enough??) sam and dean breaking and entering and squatting :") a kid with a bug fixation, ostracised by his dad, who sam has an immediate connection with. winchester family dynamics. bugs as the ghost of settler colonial violence haunting American suburban gentrification. bugs as a metaphor for how fragile the facade of white picket fence suburbia really is. sam and dean aren't able to kill their way out of this week's monster. all they're able to do is save people, temporarily. they don't get to break the curse, and that's the point. it's bigger than either of them. hunting as a cycle of frontier violence perpetuating itself, and for once there are no black-or-white solutions. supernatural will never deal with this theme again! anyways, they put cast and crew in a room with 65000 bees but the damned bees didn't show up properly on camera so they ended up using CGI bees. they look horrible.

#unironically one of my fave eps i'll defend it to my last breath #i'd write a whole academic paper on it if i could #there's layers to it...im sorry if u can't see them #lb #my meta #j.txt

[concidineart]

“What did you do?!” Was feeling some way about fWhip and his salmon. He put the souls of the slaughtered into mechs and no one talks about it.

#mcyt #empires smp #fwhip #esmp s1 #salmon #mecha #every now and then I'm reminded about Jimmy wanting to kill off all the salmon #and go a little feral about fWhip defending them #like on a meta level do i know fwhip probs just wanted to troll jimmy? yes #but also jimmy's campaign against fish we find out later may be sentient is messed up

[ecoterrorist-katara]

Nothing about Ka/taang precludes Katara being Chief of the SWT…

which is why it pisses me off even more that Katara didn’t get to have a role of any political importance whatsoever. It wouldn’t change anything about LOK’s storyline, and it would be fully in line with her character.

There’s a common anti-Zutara argument that Katara wouldn’t want to be Fire Lady, because she would want to rebuild and lead her own culture. I am sympathetic to that. Based on her canon characteristics, she might want to be a United Republic Councilwoman, Chief of the SWT, or just generally the Waterbending Master / Matriarch of the her tribe, which would be easier (though not impossible) if she weren’t married to the sovereign of another nation — I get that.

but the thing is…she didn’t get to do any of that, even though “wife of the Avatar” doesn’t contradict those roles. All the things that would be difficult for her to do if she were married to Zuko, she still didn’t get to do as Aang’s wife. She didn’t get to have a career the way her husband, or her brother, or her friends did.

so it’s extra hypocritical when Ka/taang shippers are like “but being Fire Lady would disempower Katara!” when Ka/taang canonically disempowered her! And KA fans are fine with that: they bend over backwards to justify why Katara doesn’t have a statue, or why she wasn’t there to protect Korra from the Red Lotus, or why she wasn’t at Yakone’s bloodbending trial. Yeah she got to live in the SWT — eventually, I assume, because in the comics she just follows Aang around — but what else did she get to do? Fucking nothing, apparently. Because to some people, the greatest honour for a woman is to be the hero’s wife.

#Kataang fans who don’t defend Katara’s stupid post-ATLA arc are fine #but I don’t think I’ve ever met one so #Katara deserved better #anti kataang shippers #anti bryke #Zutara #pro Zutara #Chief Katara #Fire Lady Katara #my meta

[phoen1xr0se]

Nothing Lasts Forever - META

It's just really struck me how utterly bizarre the line "nothing lasts forever" is, considering that it comes out of THIS GUY'S mouth:

Don't get me wrong, this line has never sat right with me, it felt oddly placed and off - almost everything else he says and does in that scene could potentially be keeping in character with who he is, his arc, his trauma... but not this.

Why?

I mean, we're talking about Aziraphale here!

The one who literally collects ancient first editions and preserves them...

The one who wears old, worn clothes because they're comfortable and he likes them...

The one who almost killed a little kid because he wanted the Earth to carry on just a little bit longer...

The one who has desperately fought to keep his demon alive and away from the threat of Hell by any means necessary.

These are not the actions of someone who believes nothing lasts. He has spent his existence protecting the things he wants to last, often going to extraordinary measures, even going against his own moral code, consistently showing that he does, in fact, want it all to last forever.

So why say it?

The only explanation that makes sense to me is Aziraphale is trying to wave a warning flag in front of Crowley's face. Hes saying: "You know me, I know you do, you know me better than anyone and you know I would never say this."

The old "if you ever hear me say these words, you know I'm in mortal peril" bit.

The only problem with this, of course, is that Crowley has just confessed - all the things Aziraphale never ever thought he would hear him say, at least not yet, and not so openly... and it's the wrong timing, the worst timing ever, because Crowley is too wrapped up in his own emotion that he can't see what Aziraphale is too scared to say overtly (lots of sideways glances to Metatron just outside the window).

Aziraphale is waving great big "I am not okay help me!!" signs at him, saying all the things he would never say - "you're the bad guys" and "you can be my second in command" and "just like the old times"... and the big one, "I forgive you" instead of the "I love you" they both know it should have been.

The worst part is that Aziraphale expects Crowley to pick up on his signals, and is so hurt and frustrated when he doesn't... not just because it means he is putting his life at risk but because maybe Crowley doesn't know him after all. Maybe they aren't what he thought they were.

But can I leave this on a happy(ish) note?

With this in mind, I'd like to bring you back to the final scene with 'A Nightingale Sang In Berkeley Square' - most people believe that either Crowley queued it up to take Aziraphale to the Ritz, or the Bentley did it...

But if all the above is true, and Aziraphale has been desperately trying to get Crowley to see his coded messages, I humbly submit the theory that it was actually Aziraphale who set up the song to play.

One last attempt to show Crowley what he couldn't risk saying out loud.

Let's hope he got the message.

#good omens meta #good omens #crowley #aziraphale #neil gaiman #ineffable husbands #aziracrow #good omens 2 #david tennant #good omens fandom #michael sheen #fuck the metatron #go meta #die metatron die #no nightingales #nothing lasts forever #aziraphale defense squad #aziraphale defender

[threestripeslider]

Tired: Rise!Splinter is a neglectful and awful father who doesn’t care about his kids >:(

Wired: Rise!Splinter’s negligence comes from a place of deep trauma that he’s carried with him his whole life – losing his mother, having been betrayed by the love of is life, being imprisoned and forced to fight for his life, used as an experiment and subsequently being mutated and losing his whole identity as a person – and while it certainly doesn’t excuse his behavior, there is no doubt that this man loves his sons fiercely despite his own shortcomings and perhaps it is exactly that love and care that causes him to keep his children at arms length in hopes to spare them his family’s cursed legacy that grooms them into martyrs and are thus destined to die young, a sacrifice for the greater good that Splinter is never willing to make even if it means forfeiting the world to the Shredder. Splinter’s journey of fatherhood began by being completely unprepared as a fresh young single father of four young children that depend on him to survive and there is no surprise he’s hit almost every bump there possibly is when raising a child but never in his life has Splinter ever blamed or resented his children in any way – he is not perfect and he’s aware and he tries to do better all because he loves his kids this fucking much bc despite all the shit he’s been through, those kids made him realize that he can try again. to dismiss him as an awful father is a gross mischaracterization of a deeply traumatized man of color who evidently tried his fucking hardest not to pass on the hurt onto his own children while grappling with his own demons and the crushing destiny of his family’s blood line that took away his mother.

#rottmnt #hamato yoshi #hamato splinter #turtle files: meta #guys i am so unwell about him #he's literally so!! i love he!!! #this guy's been to hell and back and yet!! and yet!! here is still!! #HERE IS STILL!! RAISING KIDS!! #HE KNOWS FUCK ALL BUT THEY DEPEND ON HIM AND THAT IS ENOUGH #i need to lie down #i am literally so [starts wailing sobbing crying] #the next omo chapter's gonna be a doozy boys #anyway dont mind me #teh number one splinter defender #KSJSJKBDBKJDBJKF #I JUST FEEL A LOT ABOUT HIM OKAY #as someone who comes from an asian family with generational trauma... #bro. BRO.

[allgremlinart]

literally thought they got a hand stunt double for Zuko in the Agni Kai scene cus like no wayyy his hands are that small compared to Ozai's haha they just changed it to make him seem younger like how he is the cartoon but then WHAMMY bts set photo. that's his hand. and his father held it against his own chest while he burned him I think I have asbestos poisoning

I think I have asbestos poisoning

#universe STOP reminding me of this scene I STILL have to finish making my post defending it... #so until then I'm like Tweaking but I dont have any meta to support my Tweak. inadvisable. #natla

[guqin-and-flute]

Something about the fact that these shots are all grouped together, one after another, visually giving them equal weight just gets me. The narrative knows what's going to happen between JGY and Huaisang at this point, knows how it's going to treat JGY at the end of everything. And it still takes time to show Meng Yao instinctively and immediately going in front of Huaisang and Huaisang instinctively and immediately hiding behind him. It takes the time--literally, showed it in the background and focused on it with the same general amount of time as the other shots--to show that this act of protection and trust are just as real and true as Jiang Cheng defending his sister, as Wen Qing defending her younger brother.

Like, I dunno! There are other Nie juniors there! They have swords and shit! Huaisang could have gone and hid behind the wall, but he hid behind Meng Yao! And Meng Yao could have moved back with Huaisang, but he steps directly in front of him!

There's a lot CQL did to JGY's character and narrative that I don't like and that flatten or just straight up erase his full complexity. But I really appreciate the lengths that it went to in Episode 4 to explicitly tell us that he does not hesitate to protect Huaisang, even though at this point he does not have a sword and definitely does not have anywhere near the same cultivation power (if any) as any of the rest of the people in the room.

Right now, after being publicly humiliated, unarmed and definitely outclassed, he is brave. Along with the rest of the characters, he's allowed to be uncomplicatedly young and loyal and just as innocent as any of the other students there.

#Besides Wen Chao fuck u bud #Honestly I think that along with Xichen Huaisang is the other person he legitimately never considered hurting #(In the same way that he didn't consider killing Mingjue hurting them but I digress) #With Xichen I think there were plenty of times were he came to the conclusion that fucking him over or overtly manipulating him #in a disadvantageous way would benefit himself and he actively decided that he would not do that #Whereas with Huaisang I just get the impression that it never occurred to him to do that #And I'm not saying that was ALWAYS out of the goodness of his heart #I think he genuinely didn't think he would get anything out of taking advantage of Huaisang personally or politically #Which is not the most ringing of endorsement next to 'I knew I could and chose not to' #But it wasn't ALWAYS that #for a man who has to constantly be on guard and look for leverage in every single interaction and aspect of his life #I think it's pretty significant that he let Huaisang in so close that he was shocked when he found a metaphorical sword in his chest #along with the physical one #Because in never trying to hurt him he never felt he had to defend against him #He loved him. They both loved each other :( #Also him finding Huaisang's bird antics so genuinely amusing in the background of this ep is just 😭 #jgy #nhs #my stuff #jgy meta #nhs meta #text

[acewitch-writes]

This fandom is so obsessed with angry Remus as if Remus John Lupin was even capable of being angry or holding a grudge. This man had an inferiority complex the size of the fucking moon. He internalized society's perception of werewolves and he loathes himself for being one. He didn't believe he deserved to be angry, and he proves it in canon over and over.

When Snape outed him as a werewolf and he resigned from his post at Hogwarts, he agreed that he wasn't fit to teach with his condition and graciously packed his things. Later, he said he held no resentment and even expressed gratitude for the fact that Snape brewed Wolfsbane for him and had the decency to never tamper with it despite their rough history.

When The Prank happened, he was very quick to forgive Sirius (assuming he even felt the need to forgive him in the first place) because they're chilling by the lake weeks later and he's asking Sirius to test him for their upcoming exam. Honestly, I'm of the mind that there was no fallout after the Prank because Remus would have just brushed it off and pretended it was no big deal (even if deep down he was genuinely hurt by it)

And I'm convinced that he didn't even resent Fenrir Greyback for seeking him out to bite him. He never once expresses a desire for vengeance, and even admitted that he felt pity for the werewolf that bit him until he learned his identity.

When he caught himself sounding ungrateful while talking to Harry about being forced to live among the pack to spy again in HBP, he immediately corrected himself and said, “I am not complaining; it is necessary work and who can do it better than I?" (Also a nod to Remus' hero worship of Dumbledore and his desperate desire to serve his every whim) ((seriously, dominant Remus WHO?))

#remus lupin #marauders #anti-angry alpha Remus agenda #anti fanon Remus #Canon Remus Defender #hp meta

[inhonoredglory]

A Wartime Footing: An Explanation for Aziraphale's Elevator Smile

(Based on an ask from @sabotage-on-mercury in response to my meta on why Aziraphale had to go to Heaven)

The creepy smile was one part of the ending I couldn't quite put my finger on either, until someone pointed out on a Twitter response to my meta:

The reason why its scary is bc azi is becoming properly angry at the system and is 101% determined to set things right (Source)

In season 1, Aziraphale was determined not to kill anyone to stop the Apocalypse. He wouldn't even tell Crowley where the Antichrist was, because Crowley's only solution was to kill him.

And because Crowley consistently didn't have any ideas ("not one single better idea??"), Aziraphale took it on himself to pursue the only option left––to ask God to intervene and stop both Heaven and Hell from destroying Earth. Therefore, Aziraphale had to keep the integrity of his angel status by distancing himself from Crowley, while the world was still in danger.

Despite this dedication avoid bloodshed, when God didn't have an answer, Aziraphale went against one of his core beliefs to help save the world. He was willing to murder a child.

For Aziraphale, that takes guts. And (seeing how he reacted at the end of the Job minisode), I wonder that if he had killed Adam Young, Aziraphale would have checked himself into Hell.

Going to Heaven for Aziraphale is ultimately a conscious choice, one that he is clearly afraid of. We see him constantly steeling himself again the Metatron in the end, covering his fear and hurt from losing Crowley with a placid smile and a flippant attitude. He's wearing so many masks, to Crowley, to himself, to the Metatron...

All season we've seen him playing roles (detective, magician, doctor, landlord). But the final role is warrior. Going up that elevator, we first see Aziraphale's eyes searching, worried, panicking, but unable to show it because he's not in a safe space. He swallows, blinks, he's breathing hard (you can see his entire shoulders rise and fall).

But as he goes up, his expression steels. He's quite literally putting on a mask (to himself): a vengeful, hardened expression of pure anger and rage (to drown out the fear and uncertainty he so clearly still has).

Michael Sheen conveying contained anger in both Good Omens and Masters of Sex.

Cuz this isn't just him scrambling to kill a kid, this is him walking calmly and knowingly into sacrificing everything he loves most (Crowley, the bookshop, his entire life on earth) to create a world that will always be safe for him and Crowley and humanity for the rest of time. Where he would have to go up against the most powerful angels, the Metatron, and God Themself to change things. He can't be the kind, sweet angel he was on Earth. That won't cut it in Heaven if he wants to make a difference in any real way.

He wanted to do it with Crowley, with the love and support and strength of his demon. But without him, Aziraphale has to channel something else to keep his resolve afloat.

Something he had when he was a warrior, fighting on the front lines of a battle between Heaven and Hell, when he very likely led a platoon into divine fields of bloodshed before the earth was born. When he was an avenging angel.

I haven’t done this since the Great War.

It was a time and an identity he had chosen to leave behind, because it wasn't the kind of angel he was anymore ("I'm not fighting in any war!"). In this context, you can read Aziraphale's passionate unwillingness to take a life (his pacifism) directly into his past experience as a warrior. It is often the veterans of terrible wars who are the most earnest advocates for peace. (And especially in Britain and Europe, where the violence of the world wars is still such a powerful and painful national memory.)

As he goes up the elevator, he's breathing so hard we can hear it mirrored in the soundtrack, and he is so hyperfocused on steeling himself that he doesn't even care that the Metatron is watching him. He doesn't rest until he's psyched himself into that warrior mindset necessary to carry out this mission entirely by himself, to be both the moral advocate and the uncompromising leader of angels who had intimidated him his entire life. To demand respect and to talk to the very face of God and tell Them they are Wrong.

(Please read this Neil-approved meta for further thoughts on God and Aziraphale.)

That creepy smile is clearly not there because Aziraphale is happy to fall into a toxic parent's false love. There's no comfort or wistful nostalgia in that face. There's no "it'll be so much nicer" in that smile. It's not a happy smile. It's an I'm-gonna-fuck-shit-up smile.

Because it's a warrior's smile before they go into battle, before they put on that armor and, for a while, become something they're not in the name of some greater good. He's fucking furious and it's downright frightening.

Because I have no doubt that the angel Aziraphale we get in Season 3 is the angel Aziraphale who can say this:

He's not quite there yet in the TV show. But this bravery, this anger, this flaming rage is how it starts.

Or as he's described in the book when Aziraphale mysteriously does away with the local mafia:

Just because you’re an angel doesn’t mean you have to be a fool.

#good omens #good omens 2 #aziraphale #aziraphale meta #aziraphale defense squad #ineffable husbands #good omens meta #go s2 meta #go meta #go s2 #michael sheen #book!aziraphale #*mine #*mymeta #made this a separate post cuz i dunno which version is better for reblogs #the side-by-side gifs kept crashing on me 😑 #anyway I love and adore defending our angel #but in no way am I taking sides #I'm just coming to his aid since he's getting so much flack rn

[jahiera]

I know it’s just a games mechanic thing but I’m kind of obsessed with the idea of the potential learning curve astarion had to do being thrust out into the wilderness and actually fighting for his life every single day after 2 centuries of stalking shadows and mostly using charm to keep himself safe and alive. picking up a bow for the first time in centuries and it’s awkward, unwieldy at first, but the muscle memory slowly returns to him as he uses it more and more—and so does the question of, did he learn to use this while he was mortal? did he enjoy it? it feels familiar, like a long passed hobby he might’ve once had. or having to quickly adapt to using two daggers for actual combat rather than the one he might have kept on him just in case an alley interaction turned sour. astarion having to learn how to fight in a group, when he’s always been deeply, deeply alone in the shadows before. slowly adapting to watching karlach’s back, picking off enemies from the side as they group around her, or picking off an enemy that was creeping up on wyll with a trick shot from a distance. like there’s no way he did any of these things back in baldurs gate, and it’s a special kind of thrill to accumulate new skills, work skills he barely remembers even having, or finding new ways to utilize talents that once would’ve served cazador but now he uses them to save his own life, and occasionally protect his …. friends … with only mild complaining. something makes me crazy about astarion being forced to use his body for centuries to lure people back with his attractiveness and middling charm and NOW he can turn his body into something strong, a weapon that belongs only to him, reclaim autonomy through the ways he chooses to fight and develop skills and abilities cazador never would’ve wanted him to have

#I have a Mini Essay for Every Companion on their relationship to fighting vs autonomy by the way. Unhinged essays #wyll losing his powers at the beginning as he mentions. karlach using her brutality to DEFEND HER FRIENDS rather than fight for zariel #gale flexing spells and talents he hasn’t dipped into in so long while he was isolated away. #lae’zel learning what it means to fight in a group that wants to keep you as safe as they do themselves. fighting for protection. #BITING DOWN. #bg3 meta

[prettyboykatsuki]

wyll, in my opinion, gets the standard fare treatment for characters that are unequivocally good. i.e. people think he's boring and uninteresting. standard fare might be kind actually given the level of racism and unexplained slander (which is often just more thinly veiled racism). his reputation about being boring is not helped by the very blatant neglect of his storyline post his rewrite and release. as a wyll enjoyer i am hyperaware of the sorry state of his current story in all three acts

despite all of that and the glaring flaws - i still believe that wylls storyline is worth of being engaged with and explored.

one of the reasons (not the most major one, but one) i think wyll experiences so much neglect as a companion stems from a wider idea that "goodness" is always the uncomplicated, easy choice.

it's something i see a lot. wyll is boring because of his archetype as a princely and universally righteous guy. and this is interesting, because it always seems to functions under the assumption that wylls moral character is innate. that his heroic and righteous actions are in some capacity, uncomplicated.

uniquely among the male origin companions, through the course of wylls story - there is never a point in which he is at risk of making a truly 'bad' choice. both gale and astarions story have them at risk of making choices that are ultimately bad for them and others (especially tav when each character is romanced). gales godhood and astarions ascension are their in game moral failings. they are the result of having not broke the cycle and are 'bad' choices for the individual character.

wylls main choice is however his pact and the choice to break that pact. notably - wyll is never at risk of making a bad choice, only a selfish one.

from the critique i see of wyll - it seems like this is the element of him people find most egregious. he's too smooth, not rugged enough, not gritty enough. but i don't think wyll's character needs grit, necessarily.

if you take any time to dissect wyll at all, based on dialogue and character interaction, many of his choices put himself at the forefront of sacrifice. the game strips wyll of a lot of agency, but wyll also always abides by and sticks to his core belief. so often towards his own detriment.

not only does wyll bear the consequence of being turned into a devil (stripping him of the last remaining shred of identity he's ever had and one of the most important things in his life), he bore the burden of being banished when he made his pact, and was willing to do the same for the sake of his father when he is taken to moonrise.

and unlike gale (who i adore, to be clear) who's concept of self-sacrifice stems mostly from a low self-worth - the belief that dying is the best he can do - wyll truly views that it's better him than them.

wyll does not think twice about allowing himself to be the one to take the fall. he can play any part, take any role, even when these choices haunt him so obviously. wyll claims that he forgives his father, but opens up to you about fearing his feelings of missing him are one-sided. he believes that making his pact was the right choice, the one he would make again - but doesn't deny the obvious pain and solace that came along with being a wandering traveler and banished son.

wylls goodness is so deliberate. he is so staunch in upholding and acting on his beliefs that it is always narrative to his own detriment. when you view wyll like this , and view his choices with regards this character attribute, it is imo very hard to hate him.

wyll's goodness is his double edged sword. it makes him heroic, brave, fearless. and it makes him scared, uncertain and lonely. again, the story itself is bare bones and i understand that - but it is so very beautiful to me thinking of him and tav or just his general romance.

as wylls romance partner, encouraging wyll to break his pact is as tragic as it very beautiful. tav is wylls one selfish thing. one of the only reasons that would move him to not give himself up. one of the only reasons he is okay with forgoing his beliefs. he loves tav enough to break his own oaths, and make choices for himself and no one else. not as the blade, or as a ravengard - but just as wyll.

and that aspect of him is in my opinion, enforced, by the mindflayer tav ending. in which wylls monster-hunting and morals are made exceptions with / for tav. my enjoyment of hero corruption might be speaking for me, but i digress.

in every way though - i truly love wyll as a character. and while im well aware of the critical flaws in his in game story state, i think it's both unfortunate and unfair that people call him boring. to me he is anything but

#aristotle.txt #wyll ravengard #bg3 #wyll meta #bg3 wyll #wyll x tav #he is so love of my life coded #this is my experience as a deku defending and lover speaking for me i fear