#and i wanted to acknowledge that properly
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ghostinthetumbchine · 21 hours ago
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Yes, it's something that so deeply haunts me because I absolutely and deeply empathise with his rage at the Valar and Eru and costant attempts to "rig" the game. The crux of the problem is him essentially ignoring that now there are also the Children and other living things in the picture, using them as basically metal and materials he can mold to his liking and not living beings with their own will. In many ways in my eyes he repeats the mistakes of those that formed him, without noticing.
My problem with the works is that it's never acknowledged as a mistake and those on the "good" side are never properly confronted. It's only a mistake when he does it. That's also what makes me feel like the story is unfinished and why I need the redemption story arc so deeply - not to defang him even or "fix" him - thats too simplistic. But to put those two opoosing sides into direct confrontation when they no longer fight but instead have to find a way forward together, confront each other and themselves through it. He's the prime candidate for it, in fact, I feel, the only one...
On this part:
Also: not being able to find the right path alone = it's still his responsibility, not anybody else's, but he NEEDS help.
See, now I'm about to say something really controversial that this convo maneuvered me into admitting... I don't entirely agree. I want to make it clear that I mean here Eru, the Valar and Eonwe, people in positions of extreme power and authority and above him in hierarchy. Not the children, not his victims or people at his mercy.
I generally believe people in positions of power and authority in society - as well as Society collectively, not us personally and individually but this complex construct we create all together - have a much greater responsibility than we currently acknowledge but I will leave that discussion for another day and post as it entails some at lenght explaining and context
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The Rings of Power | 2.01
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florencebirdsong · 2 days ago
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Happy Valentine’s Day!
I just saw you’ve opened your requests for this day, so I have a request ;)
Witch!agatha x innocent!human!fem!reader, after AAA, Agatha falls in love with an ordinary human and for the first time in her life she is clumsy when flirting and approaching reader - that's how special her crush on this human is-
I ADORE your writing
Happy Valentine's Day! Thank you so much for the request!!
This is less clumsy and more awkward and stiff but I hope you still enjoy. She's just a silly billy who doesn't know how to handle her emotions :)
And thank you!!! That means so much <3
Valentine’s Day Event 2025
Tags: very slight angst, hint of dominating Agatha, ficlet
Agatha’s presence fills a room. Her eyes see through everyone she meets. She skilfully navigates everyone that’s thrown at her. There isn’t a person who’s properly met her who hasn’t been left with a strong impression. Except you. She barely looks at you. You’ve only ever managed to catch her in the corner of your eye, but even then it could just be in your direction.
You can’t figure out why and any one you’ve been brave enough to ask hasn’t either. Some have even said that it’s a good thing. You don’t understand how. You ache with longing every time you see her sharp smile directed at someone else.
It takes the sixth social gathering in a row where she has interacted with every one but you to find the courage to ask. It’s one of the rare occasions where it’s held at her place and you take advantage of the fact that everyone seems to leave all at once.
It feels strange to linger when the host doesn’t acknowledge you but you draw on every bit of courage you have to stay.
“Not rushing out?” Agatha says from behind you.
You jump in surprise and whirl around. Her face is emotionless. Not even the usual amusement from scaring someone displayed.
“I wanted to talk to you,” you say, gaze stuck firmly on the floor.
There’s a very long pause before she says,
“Alright,” and gestures at the purple lounge.
Instead of choosing another chair she sits next to you. You sit ramrod straight in your nervousness and you can’t help casting a quick glance at her every few seconds. She’s so close. 
She has been before, technically. When talking in or group or accidentally brushing up against you but that never lasts long and it’s never been just the two of you.
Her gaze has wandered over to the window. A curtain has curled back just enough for a peak at the moon.
“Agatha?” you ask, valiantly trying to hide how nervous you are. She hums vaguely, eyes still looking out the window. Swallowing hard, you make yourself continue. “Why don’t you like me?”
Her head snaps towards you. “Excuse me?”
You try not to cringe. You knew it had been a stupid question and yet you asked anyway. Now you have to try and survive her sharp words. One of the few times she looks directly at you and you can’t even meet her eyes. It’s a major loss, especially with what’s about to happen, but you don’t think you’d be able to survive seeing the annoyance or hate in her eyes when she insults you.
You flinch in surprise when she grips your chin and forces your gaze to meet hers.
“Me liking you isn’t the problem,” she says. Her voice is low and you try to brace yourself. “The problem is that I like you too much.”
Her nails dig slightly into your skin and your eyes widen in surprise. You don’t even get a chance to think of a response before her lips are against yours. It’s not a feeling you’re familiar with but you lean into her warmth eagerly. Agatha makes an encouraging sound that has you melting. It’s not long until her hands go from supporting to pushing and you find yourself being slowly lowered to lay down on the couch. You follow happily until you realise where this is going. You put a hand on her shoulder to stop her. She pulls back with a raised eyebrows.
“Have a different position in mind?” she asks with the hint of a smirk.
“Yes- I mean no- I- ,” you force yourself to take breath. She’s overwhelming enough from across the room. Having her so intensely focused on you is disorientating. “I haven’t…done anything like that before.”
You swear her eyes darken.
“That’s alright,” she murmurs as she leans closer. Your eyes drop to her lips. “I’ve waited this long for you. I can wait a bit longer.” She moves her hands again but instead of pushing you to lay down she pulls you into her. “I’ll take of you,” she promises.
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circuitcircus · 10 months ago
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in defense of kabumisu……..
addressing things I see people say about why kabru being shipped w mithrun is ‘bad’ or why their canon relationship ‘doesn’t mean anything’ while also clearing up misconceptions of the characters some fans have
listen it keeps popping up and I just gotta do this or my brain will melt (if you don’t see it around then god I wish that were me) there’s an age gap!- erm there’s also an age gap in farcille (ily), the most popular ship in the series...also chilchuck looks like a kid but a lot of fans recognize him as a dilf because of his relative age, so there should be no age gap discourse among adult characters because it feels so conditional tbh
kabru taking care of mithrun is racist!- marcille likes to take care of others as well. is that sexist, or just an aspect of her character?
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kabru isn’t treated like a servant, waiting on mithrun hand and foot…I mean he gives mithrun a foot massage but no one told him to do all that lmfao
he's also not the only one to care for mithrun. pattadol is shown to worry for him and milsril was the one to start taking care mithrun in the first place after he…...y’know. speaking of which-
they probably met when kabru was a kid!- neither of them showed signs of recognizing each other the entire time mithrun was introduced nor when they were together. and im pretty sure KABRU of all people would show some kind of recognition if they'd met before. it's kabru!!! the people person!!! mr. "i-noted-down-50+-characters-in-this-dude's-backstory-for-fun-and-actually-enjoy-social-gatherings"
you would think some kind of memory would come back to him especially after hearing mithrun’s backstory if milsril had even told kabru about him as a kid. but nope. it’s just fan speculation unless there's a side comic suggesting otherwise that i haven't seen
mithrun doesn't care about kabru, his shapeshift double looked like shit!- it's obviously because of mithrun's (then) lack of desires that it looked like that, but they really grow on each other
i think it's safe to assume it'd look more like kabru after they spent so much time together (also laios can barely even remember kabru's name..also saw his face multiple times and didn’t recognize him when they talked for the first time)
mithrun is racist!- he’s actually the least likely character to be racist since he lost his desires and that includes a desire for superiority over others. he even calls his past self out on that part of himself. the other elves in that side comic were being just as racist to shorter lived races but just didn’t use ‘outdated slurs’
(unfortunately literally every main character in dunmeshi is at least a lil prejudiced, but I believe it’s worldbuilding and a sign of the times rather than a reason ryoko kui is giving to hate each character)
taking care of others is a pain in the ass!- saying this as a reason kabru and mithrun shouldn't be together is basically saying disabled people shouldn't be allowed to have romantic relationships because they're a "burden"...if someone is actually willing to put in the work, then let them be.
that's not even all of their relationship, mithrun is the fighter of their duo and kabru would've been killed by the shapeshifter or something if he'd fallen down the hole on his own since he sucks at fighting monsters. mithrun helps collect ingredients for cooking every time, too (barometz fruits and griffin egg). he pulls his weight and then some!! i feel like people forget that part of mithrun a lot somehow.
+senshi literally cooks for everyone all time. it's kind of an important aspect of the narrative.
+also, while it is a popular fan thing I see around that kabru handfeeds mithrun, he literally never does lol this is mithrun using his own hands to eat:
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also here we have him washing his own body
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just saying because people like to treat mithrun like a baby even though the narrative respects him as a capable adult who also has special needs because of an accident. he’s captain for a reason
kabru hates taking care of mithrun!- not exactly, he was initially surprised and put off but got used to it quickly. i’m sure he’s grateful for all the times mithrun saved him from a monster and teleported them out of danger as well
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he even starts doing “unnecessary” things for mithrun’s comfort and safety like when mithrun pushes himself too hard fighting, even after his mission to take care of him was complete when the canaries came back
here is even kabru resting while mithrun keeps watch (mithrun let him sleep for 5 hours before waking him up from the nightmare earlier, too):
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there's nothing more to their relationship!- they actually have had a very tight and consistent dynamic since they met and they incite the most change within each other by the end. kabru is the one who inspires mithrun to create new desires so he doesn't waste away, and mithrun is the first person we see kabru being genuine with and it leads him to be more honest with others by the end instead of tiptoeing around everyone all the time (that mask was also the reason some ppl initially disliked kabru…)
kabru’s relationship with mithrun is honestly so important for his character and vice versa, but it’s often disregarded because of one over exaggerated aspect of it (an aspect that isn’t even the first way they interact with each other) or because people want to just straight up ignore it for some reason 🥲🥲
kui dedicates many panels to them that don't particularly serve the narrative as a whole in order to demonstrate this and i think that's pretty significant
you're taking this too seriously!- as if i'm the first person in the world to be crazy about a ship or the characters 😭 i love analyzing text and it's upsetting to see them mischaracterized when kui lays out the characters so clearly and deliberately
also they end up touching each other like all the time and have the kind of canon validation most ppl can only dream of lol i feel so insane look at this:
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and this is just when they're first getting to know each other cuz there's a fuckload more
kinda hard to explain how i don't actually need them to get married or whatever but i'd die on this hill for them and i enjoy their dynamic immensely
haha you thought you were reading ship discourse but it was actually a character analysis 🤪🤪🤪
also don’t somehow take this to mean I think anyone has to ship them, I just need everyone to understand these accusations kind of don’t make sense especially when they can also apply to other pairs or characters
bonus kabru just looking at mithrun:
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shiraoyagi · 1 month ago
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sometimes i wish saki's disability was more involved in her present life rather than being largely relegated as her main traumatic backstory element
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ladeldee · 1 year ago
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Here's a Tallulah to start the new year :]
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starii-void · 6 months ago
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something about mei and mk being ‘the hero and the warrior’ except they’re more based
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theres been a few instances of mei being upset about not being able to spend as much time with MK (the one i remember more vividly was her in s5 wanting to go on a ‘classic MK and Mei adventure!’ but im p sure there was an instance in s4 too that i cant recall) which lead to some thoughts
ive seen a lot of stuff about them and how mei might end up like macaque, bitter and abandoned by MK, like wukong did. but i just feel like it isnt true. so this is my future theory:
there’d be a build up of more instances like this. mei wants to do stuff with MK, but he prioritizes his hero training/duties. each time, she’s shown subtly being more and more upset until one day she snaps. she confronts him and is visibly upset, yelling at him.
but then, instead of snapping back (like Wukong did) he apologizes. maybe it can parallel the first fight they had in season 1 during the race somehow?
in the end, the two do what Wukong and Macaque couldnt, and make up. MK owns up to his mistake and they both get better. they have their own little adventures together, or something like that
and like that, it shows how they’re different from the Hero and the Warrior. it shows how Wukong and Macaque couldve turned out if theyd just put down their pride and communicated. it shows what they couldve been.
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basically i just think they wouldnt turn out like macaque and wukong. ive seen a lot of people theorize that but they arent emotionally constipated enough for that to happen, plus we’ve seen them argue and make up on screen already.
also i think itd just make for some cool opportunities for art and visual parallels
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dukeofthomas · 8 months ago
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I need people to realize how horrible 'stalking/constant surveillance/breaking into each other's homes is how the Batfamily show love' is. Like i really need someone to just acknowledge how horrific saying this bullshit is.
Like even fics where they're shown as happy and healthy and with good ties, you've always got this thing where none of them have privacy or any boundaries with each other. Which is directly antithetical to actually having good relationships. And this invasion via hacking and stalking and breaking into homes is portrayed as a positive, good thing; it's just how they show love and care to each other, after all. But for some reason I just personally don't find stalking, lack of privacy or boundaries, and emotional manipulation funny, endearing, or healthy, and just end up disgusted at the attempt to sweep it all under the rug.
#my dc posting#dc#batman#batfamily#jason todd#barbara gordon#bruce wayne#dick grayson#tim drake#damian wayne#listen i can only take so much of it before i just breakdown okay#apparently controversial opinion but a family where its normal to vreak into each others homes and manipulate each other and stalk and#invade boundaries and autonomy and privacy can NOT be healthy#no matter how much you try to dress it up all cute w 'this is just how they are' 'its how they show their love' its never not gonna be#unhealthy and bad and toxic#like yeah they do do that. they are like that. either acknowledge it or stop trying to justify it#god this actually irks me so much#i try to idk. suspend my disblief but theres only so much i can actuallt fucking take before just#its just. im trying to read happy fluffy fics. but i cant be comforted by a family that normalizes breaking boundaries n invading privacy#and its specifically that the author aleays disregards it. instead of fixing it or making it better they opt to keep it and come up w excuse#s for it#and thats what actually triggers me#'i broke into ur house cus if i asked if i could come over ud say no' is actuallt fucking horrifying stop trying to make it seem loving???#im writing this while having a panic attack dont mind me 👍#but its like. if you can write the batfam w/o bruce hitting his kids or any other horrific thing that they do#then why must you keep the boundary&privacy breaking? why cant anyone even seemingly try to write a batfam#where theyve worked their issues abt this out best they can n have healthy established boundaries w each other??#like if u can write them all hanging out together 24/7 n bruce being s good dad why is this one simple thing the One Thing#nobody even tries to address properly???#'aw dick broke into jason's saehouse bc he wanted to hangout but jason would say no if he asked' aw. maybe dick should learn 'no means no'
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3-aem · 1 year ago
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i also don’t want to portray myself as faultless. my work isn’t ai and it isn’t copied. but nk will say i Had old pieces that were copied and referenced ai. Yet it isn’t good faith when i apologize, state how i took accountability, and explain thats definitely not the case today because i learned my lessons- to respond with well you made these mistakes in the past so how can i believe you, you are lying, and have not changed.
so i quit. how can i prove myself then besides what i mentioned in the last post. my question is will you even ALLOW me to prove myself. each time i must explain, i place a spotlight on something that was resolved agreeably with the artists, resolved by removing the works, and resolved within myself by learning from it. but by not saying something i also allow You to concoct narratives and have to watch people spread them around and come to me demanding apologies. it is a very uncomfortable very distressing process that has worn me down completely.
never mind that other artists who have copied have not nearly been requested to apologize as much as i have been. never mind that they were forgiven when they removed the works or even when they just say sorry and don’t remove the work at all. But you still choose to hound me afterwards for doing just that?
nk has stated that i have not fixed this. and that i must address it. how many times though? for how long also? who on this planet starts the conversation by recounting all their mistakes, especially when they know they are resolved.
i have had to learn my lessons through cruelty like yours. trust me its a trauma i have to bear and they are not lessons you then forget.
my anger and my feelings of defeat come from the fact that even after nk was still talking like i had not even attempted to make progress. just look at your tone here.
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xxplastic-cubexx · 2 months ago
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speaking of movieverse charles i rlly wanna know ur thoughts on the whole dark phoenix charles villain arc they try to do
i dont think they were trying to make him a 'villain'- antagonize him a bit maybe. STILL THOUGH it felt pretty forced, if at the very least out of nowhere (just like the whole bit of hank and erik bonding over raven ..... if i may be so bold to say....). raven's generally been edgy about charles throughout the movies but why did hank have to do him like that too 😭😭
i dont mind when media portrays charles as less-than-perfect- that's what makes him such an interesting character: wanting to do the right thing but inevitably being human and messing up along the way to do so, or thinking his way is right And Maybe On Paper It Is but then in action its.. not that simple
if the movie did it better then id be chill maxing Ok Cool Love It- but having hank try to act as though charles couldnt POSSIBLY be more distraught over raven's death was actually insane 💀💀💀💀
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sweetpapercroissant · 2 years ago
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i just want to emphasise how crazy it is that samdean don’t need or even really want (at times) any external relationship outside of each other. developing different kinds of human relationships with different people is a huge part of growing as a person. and they just-don’t. even when they have the choice and chance to do so-they just choose not to. they really fulfill each other’s every need and that is so. it’s so sick how insular they are and even more so, in some ways, how content they are in that.
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sockfizz · 27 days ago
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Scratches my head and leans into the mic. So uh PSA! If I do anything that upsets you please inform me as soon as you can instead of ignoring it til I'm vulnerable? Thanks
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theladyfae · 5 months ago
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i think human nature/family of blood is a really good two parter in how it manages to show how full of shit ten is 🫶
#look . i LOVE ten . esp whatevers going on w him in s3 he's horrible and i like that#but just !! martha :(#its so incredibly unfair to martha he doesnt unleash his wrath on the Family he chooses to hide instead and okay yeah fair#and sure u can say the tardis chose the setting and time period for them to hide in but like#did that not filter in to his calculations he went through all that turned himself human put his friendship with martha to the test in#the worst way possible. knowing she wouldn't let herself leave him even if he was Abhorrent towards her (and he was) because#of her duty to the universe and beyond and whatever . to blend in and keep the Family off their tails#and she's put in a demeaning position and degraded and even he doesn't seem to care much for her but she still hangs on#and then in the end its like its all for naught. all that pain and suffering martha went through being the only one w her wits about her#he had the capacity to deal w the threat the whole time he had the ability to dole out a horrible punishment he could definitely#have dealt with them a different way than that too .#and instead in his quest to be the bigger person he ends up putting martha through the horrors and then#does the same with the Family anyway ! i dont think he can ever tell her how harshly he dealt with them#surely this isnt an original thought im just thinking Way too much about blue moon by niki#he Does care more about being good than being good to her specifically !! and its so upsetting theyre so volatile i miss them#its more complicated than that sure but at the same time. it sort of isnt .#anyway martha jones my love my life u deserved at least a billion apologies alongside the thanks like god . whats wrong w him#oh and also he wants to move on without properly talking about it . act as if it never happened#like girl be fucking considerate for ONCE she just went through a personal hell for you !!! how insanely lonely she must of been#i dont believe martha ever let him just brush past it w no acknowledgement like yes i think she definitely didnt want to discuss the#accidental confession but i Do think she would sit him down to finally get him to Accept he cant just take her wherever in the past#if he's not ready to look out for her . its a vital conversation i think they need to have otherwise martha would just walk out there#not even love could make her stay through that its been established already she has the strength to try walk away#and also to try and but through his bullshit and demand answers . and here more than ever she deserves his acknowledgement and he Knows it
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iwakuraz · 25 days ago
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whats the point in life if everybody stops liking me the moment I start feeling even just a bit sad
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masakousuke · 2 years ago
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Thank you!!!
I really regret the fact that I forget to properly focus on that also- I always somehow have a place for these boys in the bigger AUs in my brain, but it's never quite enough to do them justice.
The truth is that it's one of hmh's strongest suits: a sense of family that comes from the pleasant atmosphere all the boys create when they hang out together. It's a shame to leave that praise unsung.
To top it off, Shige specifically is great in how plain silly he gets to act with Yamabe and company while having his own not insignificant issues. He's a good boy. It's a shame he doesn't have his own little story, like most other characters in the manga.
Hhhh it's hard to not go off the rails. But yes. The hijinks... The sillies... The hanging out that is youth wish fulfillment for someone like me, who's always been a loner... They make me happy C:
In a perfect world there is a non romance-centered hmh spinoff and we know everything about all of these boys lol.
So, about the "art requests" u posted a few days ago
Maybe Shige and Yamabe just being dumb together? They're my fav duo and fav ship
Of course! Happy to get a chance to draw these boys also, even if maybe I didn't quite get the vibe I wanted... To make up for it, I made two dumb doodles instead of just one.
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They are very silly and I don't give them nearly enough attention.
Thank you for leaving a request! Ended up drawing Yamabe for the first time ever oop ;P definitely wanna draw them again.
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Bonus chibi Shige with Yamabe's scarf.
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forcedhesitation · 1 year ago
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whoever made the decision to demote the resolution to wyll's story to a subquest is either unqualified to even be making that decision and should be replaced, or they are qualified, and should be disposed of, because they have demonstrated that they are not even familiar with the material they are making a decision about.
i've spoken about the wyrmway before, and as I said then, if there was anything that this quest needed, it was to be expanded. after rereading my original commentary, I decided to expand on my thoughts about the quest. so, here is a more extensive exploration of why I think the wyrmway quest is so important, and how I would personally improve the narrative, so as to give wyll a better resolution to his story.
wyll's whole quest has elements of fairy tales woven into it, and his character is an archetypal fairy tale prince. concluding his personal story by having him "slay the dragon" in the wyrmway is brilliant, as it follows the narrative of a typical fairy tale, and ties back to a dialogue of wyll's in act 1. after you've spoken to raphael for the first time, he tells you a tale his father once read to him, "the kind with a hero, a villain, and a moral." beyond this short story reflecting many different layers of wyll’s past, it also serves as a guideline for how wyll's quest plays out. but the wyrmway quest is necessary in order for it to play out properly, as it is there that the moral is fully revealed.
at the wyrmway, you learn that ansur, the "heart of the gate," is actually dead. well, undead. in meeting ansur, you learn the truth behind the emperor's identity and what led to ansur's death. and it is what led to ansur's death that reveals the moral of wyll's tale. it was ansur's rigid adherence to his lawful good moral alignment that ultimately destroyed him, and the relationship he had with balduran. and this was because he could not see his old friend as a person any longer, only a monster. ansur's refusal to compromise his values, rather than reconsider his perspective and hear his friend out, is clearly a parallel to ulder exiling wyll from baldur's gate, because he valued his duty to the city more than his own son. this is a truly ingenious way of criticising ulder's actions, and wonderfully ties the moral of wyll's story into the game's greater question of "what truly makes someone a monster?" moreover, all of this is necessary for a proper resolution to wyll's story, as it allows for ulder to show wyll that he's willing to break away from the mentality that lost ansur everything, so that he may properly reconcile with him.
by downplaying the importance of this quest, larian is not only weakening the aforementioned parallels between ansur & ulder and wyll & balduran, but also minimising the importance of ulder echoing balduran, when he says that wyll himself will be the city's saviour. he says this in response to the one instance in the ENTIRE game, that I can think of, where wyll openly admits to feeling defeated. some of wyll's dialogue post quest completion reveals that this is because he hoped that enlisting ansur's help and saving the city would have been his shot at "redeeming" himself to the city, and to his father. we know that wyll never needed to redeem himself, and that he's never done anything wrong. but despite any resentment he may express over being exiled, he never really blames his father for abandoning him, because his father is "good" and was merely "doing his duty." so when balduran tells wyll that he never needed ansur, that he is the heart of the gate, and then ulder echoes that sentiment to wyll when he returns from the wyrmway...ulder is finally showing wyll that he meant his apology and that wyll is was always good enough. it was ulder who wasn't good enough, much like it was ansur who was wrong for refusing to reconsider his morals. and this is then later reflected in the dialogue you can get with blade of avernus wyll in the epilogue, where he tells you how his father's changed his approach to governance and has become far more merciful.
now, if you're unfamiliar with wyll's quest, or perhaps with baldur's gate altogether, and are merely reading out of curiosity, you may go "wow, bumble! this sounds like a marvellously written story! I cannot possibly fathom how people are dissatisfied with this! or why larian would demote it to a sidequest!" I'd say your reaction is the result of not having the full picture. what you've read thus far merely outlines some core elements of wyll's story, and why they're important, without really discussing how successfully this narrative is executed in the game, or the way that larian & the fandom treat wyll. poorly, is the word I'd use in all three cases. the narrative is executed poorly, and he is treated poorly by both the devs and fans.
in respect to the narrative of his quest, I'll begin by saying that I believe that the idea behind the quest is great! the commitment to the fairy tale theme is incredible and works wonderfully for wyll's character. subverting our expectations of heroism and villainy through the tale of ansur and balduran is clever, and using that story to explore the relationship between ulder and wyll is, as I said before, brilliant. I truly enjoyed wyll's story as much as I enjoyed that of astarion, who most people on social media know has a very emotional and beautiful resolution to his quest. but I mention the beloved bloodsucker not for the purpose of praising his writing. I mention him, because I feel that his quest's overall narrative feels as satisfying as it does because he is given a lot of material all throughout the game. the same could be said of shadowheart, who has roughly the same amount of material as him. reaching the conclusion of their stories, despite any weak points in their writing, ultimately feels fulfilling for the player, because they've been through a lot with that character. but what of the true heart of the gate, our dearest prince wyll? well, out of the six origin companions, wyll has the least amount of material in his story. yes, the son of duke ulder ravengard, one of the most important npcs in the entire game, has the least amount of story material. astarion and shadowheart, conversely, possess no true tie to the central narrative of the game, but have the most material. now, rather than making an effort to rectify this atrocious disparity, larian chooses to relegate the conclusion of wyll's quest to a place of lesser significance, all while providing new material to less important characters instead, like gortash and halsin. gortash, who is not only bane's chosen, but also the villain at the heart of karlach's story. yet, the new material he was given implicates a more intimate relationship between him and the dark urge, and has nothing to do with karlach whatsoever. halsin, on the other hand, was originally meant to be nothing more than an npc, yet he now possesses five unique kisses, on top of several greetings for a romantic partner, which is something wyll still lacks entirely, even after six major patches and seventeen hotfixes.
And what of the wyrmway itself? I will say that the area is notably...underwhelming, for the lair of a legendary dragon, but the same could be said about the area every companion's quest concludes at. so I will not delve into how I feel that area could be structurally expanded. what I will talk about, is what I mentioned above- the narrative. I've seen a lot of hatred for the emperor's reveal, but I do not think that the reveal in itself is the problem. what is rather the problem is that the writing does not account for wyll being a companion, rather than an avatar. if he is your avatar, the reveal feels more impactful, because the narrative has followed wyll as the central figure of the game, rather than a customised character. thus, revealing the mysterious guardian figure as a hero of legend makes perfect sense, in the context of wyll's fairy tale themed quest. however, if wyll is not your avatar, the reveal falls flat. this is because he is no longer in the spotlight, and the game does nothing to account for that, which makes the entire quest feel like it is more about balduran than it is wyll. and this is done despite the fact that without wyll, there isn't even any point, narratively speaking, to having the emperor secretly be balduran. the emperor's function in the story is relevant specifically to wyll, and as I've explained, ansur and balduran's story is incredibly important to the resolution of wyll's own story. what needed to happen was sufficient material being added to the quest to ensure that wyll is still treated as the point of focus. not only that, but there should be material added at earlier points of the game, so as to strengthen the connection between wyll and the emperor, because prior to the wyrmway, the emperor only singles out whoever you're playing as, and there's nothing to account for that not being wyll. this lack of early game connection only serves to further weaken the impact this conclusion has. how would I improve wyll's story, to account for when he is a companion, so that he is treated as the focal point of the conclusion to his quest, and so that he is given a satisfying resolution to his story?
give wyll dialogue with and about the emperor that is exclusive to him, to draw a connection between them earlier on in the game. if gale can have an interaction with mystra that excludes your character entirely, as shadowheart does with dame aylin, then there's absolutely no reason why wyll cannot have an exclusive scene with the emperor.
rework the scene in which mizora gives wyll the ultimatum. while wyll is given agency to choose his own fate at the wyrmway, I feel that he should be given agency at this point as well. once again, there's no reason for why this can't be possible, as shadowheart is given the option to choose for herself both in act 2 and 3. then, by having the emperor pay special attention to wyll, the possibility for him to choose to save himself would become more realistic, as the emperor would have an understandable reason for trying to convince wyll to choose himself over his father. moreover, the emperor would possess the means to believably convince wyll to choose himself, because the emperor knows gortash personally and thus knows that gortash wouldn't just immediately dispose of someone as useful as ulder, which is something he could tell wyll. to account for the relationship between your player character and wyll, if wyll is told to choose for himself whether he should accept mizora's new pact, his choice to believe the emperor's claims could be determined by his approval of your avatar. if you've treated him well and reaffirmed his worth as a person, wyll could realise that the emperor has no reason to lie, and that alongside you, saving his father from gortash should be possible regardless of what mizora has promised. meaning: he would choose to break his pact. if you've treated him poorly, he could argue that he hates mizora, but he at least he knows he can rely on her power and lawful nature, whereas he has no reason to trust that you would actually help him save his father from both gortash and mizora, if he is indeed still alive. meaning: he accepts mizora's new terms.
introduce the possibility of multiple final outcomes for wyll's story a little earlier on in the game. if I'm not mistaken, it is only when you get to the wyrmway itself, and have defeated ansur, that the possibility of wyll even becoming duke is mentioned. I feel that the "blade of avernus," is an ending best left to be announced by wyll himself, after ansur's demise, but wyll becoming the new duke should be hinted at shortly after he's been given the ultimatum by mizora. how it is mentioned, and how likely wyll would be to follow that path, would obviously be dependant on whether he accepted mizora's ultimatum, but could also consider other factors, such as if ulder is alive.
if wyll is in your party, it should not be possible for the cutscene with ansur to be triggered by anyone else but wyll. if other companions act immediately in dialogue with npcs important to their quests (i.e. shadowheart attacking dame aylin, astarion attacking his siblings & cazador) if they are in your party, wyll should be given that same grace. he is given some, in act 2..... should you fail the perception check that allows you to negotiate wyll's original contract with mizora.....but I think anyone with any measure of intelligence can agree that that should not be locked between a random, unexplained dice roll which you have no control over.
going off the last point, the emperor's dialogue following ansur's final demise should perhaps be delivered in a short cutscene format. the dialogue with wyll, where he laments that ansur will not save them, and questions if this means baldur's gate will fall, can play out normally. but when the emperor tells wyll that he is the heart of the gate, there should be a moment in which the emperor shows wyll (and you as the player) visions of wyll surrounded by baldurians cheering after you've all defeated the brain. it could be a short scene, just a momentary vision, but it would clarify that the emperor is speaking directly to wyll. the vision paired with the emperor's words then makes wyll's following confidence feel a little less spontaneous, and gives his consideration of taking up ulder's ducal title a little more foundation.
after the emperor's identity is revealed, at some point after leaving the wyrmway, give the emperor a dialogue that explains that he was urged to protect wyll, in a way, because he related to wyll's experiences. it'd be important to ensure the emperor still sounds selfish, because he is, but to suggest that he feels some degree of connection to wyll. that way the writing would remain faithful to the emperor's character, but would also emphasise the connection between wyll and balduran (both heroes) as victims of those with inflexible lawful good morality (ulder and ansur/the moral), and those who exploit vulnerable people (mizora exploiting a young, selfless wyll by offering him the chance to save his city & gortash exploiting that balduran is a mindflayer and thus a monster in the eyes of society/ both villains). and for the "mindflayers don't have any feelings crowd" : experiencing such fondness for a person is not completely unrealistic for an illithid, as omeluum expresses feeling "warmth" towards your character if you save him from the iron throne. the emperor is selfish, yes, but writing him with some degree of sympathy for a character that is paralleled to him in their quest makes him more interesting of a character, in my opinion.
add a post quest cutscene. shadowheart is given a cutscene after her quest is completed, regardless of whether your character has romanced her. the cutscene works well to show the player the complicated emotional state she is in, and allows her to express some of the anguish she's kept inside for so long. I believe this kind of cutscene would be perfect to fully conclude wyll’s quest, as he keeps a lot of his feelings to himself and deserves an opportunity to express them. if ulder is alive, the cutscene could feature the moment in which he echoes balduran's words and reaffirms that wyll never needed ansur to save the city. then, the scene can shift to your character helping wyll to prepare the dinner he mentioned wanting to make. in this scene, you can ask him about his feelings about everything that's happened. if ulder is not alive (something I've never personally had happen), the post quest cutscene could feature a moment in which the emperor reaffirms wyll as the true heart of the gate instead, and then transition to the dinner preparation. of course, wyll's responses would obviously be different depending on his approval of your character, whether he remains pacted to mizora, and whether his father is alive. either way, adding this cutscene would offer an opportunity for wyll to comment on how he personally feels about the conclusion to his quest. and by using cooking, which wyll seemed very excited about doing, there is the chance to include some dialogue about his time adventuring the sword coast.
those are just some of my ideas to make the wyrmway quest, in specific, stronger as an ending. if there are inconsistencies, I apologise, but his quest remains bugged, and I'm not entirely sure of the correct order certain dialogues are supposed to play out following ansur's death. I did my best to figure it out and you are welcome to correct any innaccuracies.
beyond the wyrmway, there is of course, much else that wyll deserves to have added to his companion quest & romance (some of which I briefly brushed upon). if you've read through all this, thank you for caring enough about wyll to do so, and I'd love to hear anything you might have to say about wyll's quest, wyrmway or otherwise. perhaps you may have better improvements in mind than I do!
please just keep comments respectful and focused on wyll. I will just block people who derail this post to speak about other companions for any purpose other than calling to attention the disparities between their quest material & wyll's.
also, if you're interested, here is the original post in which I talked about the wyrmway quest.
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rocksanddeadflowers · 1 year ago
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Been thinking about applying the myth where Thor has to pretend to be a giants bride to get his hammer back (you know the one, right??) to the TBI characters. Doubt I'll write it out but I have SO MANY THOUGHTS ON IT. My main thought atm being that, from what I remember, Heimdall was the first person to suggest Thor cross dress. Which is just. The excuse to right out Heimdall's involvement is almost as enticing as getting to write out Tyr. He's just. So silly to me. But so badass. I love him.
I can see everyone in the TBI setting at some grand meeting table for the Aesir (and co.) with Thor freaking out about his poor hammer (which, yes seems tricky to write in TBI context but. We'll just patch that plothole it with something later, I have a loose thread idea or two.), Freya desperately trying to avoid involvement in the entire debacle, Loki concerned but still trying not to giggle at the absurdity while Sigyn kicks her under the table to tell her to stop laughing. Heimdall leans over the table towards Thor, trying to remain stoic but his small smirk and gold eyes glittering with Loki approved mischief somewhat gives him away as he suggests, "If we don't want to risk our dear stunning lady here, and you need your hammer back, why don't you be Freya?"
Loki loses it laughing and most of the table can't help but laugh or giggle quietly, including Sigyn. Thor is immediately against the idea, but Loki is already signing up to be his handmaiden in between gasps of giggles (because she would never miss out on such good mischief), and really the idea is such a hit that Thor is sorely outvoted.
The story is still brought up for years to come, typically for a laugh at Thor's expensive. Still no one could deny he looked damn good in that dress.
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