#bfa wranduin

[doctordragon]

To me they are

[druidonity2]

2021 just some guys celebrating pride

[anduln]

ok so i’m FINALLY ACTUALLY continuing the bfa campaign & i didn’t know kalecgos & wrathion were actually canonically buddies like that lol (well except for the vow eternal). we love to see it!

[warcraftish]

Well, like, I kiiiind of mean it that way? Like, specifically, in as much as the fandom (and, to a fucked up degree, Blizz) has written it so that there are weird hints that Wrathion does kind of have a somewhat romantic-type interest in Anduin (like, the short story where he's brooding over the fact that he thought Anduin ~cared about him~ reads very much romantic, and then there's the voice lines in the Wrathion Bartender), in a way like... despite the fact that Wrathion was two at the time ("in dragon years!" notwithstanding), Anduin was clearly just as adolescent even if he was older. Was Wrathion's delusion that he was more experienced/wiser/adult necessarily correct? Does it hold up to scrutiny? No, the way other dragons react to Wrathion show that he was clearly also an adolescent idiot.

But in that scenario of "they were both kids, neither of whom should have had adults trying to sex them up", I do think Wrathion would be the one on the "more culpable" side of naivete/power. See also: Jaina being happy that Anduin at thirteen is not betrothed. This coming from a woman who was betrothed IIRC since birth (need to reread the Arthas book, but at least childhood), and she had a happy relationship with Arthas for a while, so I don't think she's reflexively against the whole idea; specifically, I think it's about Anduin being innocent. So in as much as Wrathion's the one lying to Anduin, if he'd been "grooming" the way you're talking out with Midha (say, going all-in with the Horde and basically trying to be [Blackdragonname] Prestor 3.0), if you added sex/romance to it, that would have been Wrathion exploiting Anduin despite the age difference... but I think now (or the sort of shadowy non-canonical post-MoP/pre-actual-Shadowlands zone that like 99% of Wranduin fic tends to be set in, especially all the stuff that just presumes they fucked during MoP despite all the evidence blatantly to the contrary), it would very clearly be the reverse and Anduin exploiting Wrathion.

Anduin has a support network; Wrathion doesn't. Anduin has (or had, now there's the damn walkabout stuff[1]) temporal power, Wrathion kind of does but it's mostly through mercenaries and is very clearly not on the same level. Like Anduin's support network is actually supportive very much to a fault; I think that's what's going on with some of the "omg I tried to kill my friends and it feels so real" characterization with him. Like he's on some level aware of, but represses, the fact that no one is actually fully honest with him, or is free of an agenda when it comes to him. Which is sympathetic, but only so much, because that's basically the price of being king.

All of this is to say, they're both dumb children and they've leap-frogged each other at various stages of development, and they're honestly both being petulant babies at the moment, albeit Anduin has a very good excuse and is probably doing the right thing in not holding power... just doing it in an incredibly irresponsible way, whereas Wrathion is basically being a vainglorious twit but is doing a better job of holding to his mission. Like I can imagine an expansion where they work together and it's cool and good and they could even have a non-twisted relationship, but it ain't here yet.

Like, obviously the whole Legion-to-BFA period was transformative for Anduin! But it's like you say, yaoi goggles, which doesn't even work because as far as we can tell, during all that Wrathion was... watching Chromie get punked over and over again? I really, really hope they do something with that in this expansion. Even just an explanation of what he was up to would be nice.

[1] Although even that kind of shows how cosseted Anduin is? Like we all know that regardless of whether or not he goes full Shadowreaper Anduin, he will 100% be enabled in strolling right back to the throne whenever he wants to be, with zero consequences or even questions asked. It sucks, because he is also being manipulated by the people who enable him (Jaina, Genn, Bolvar, etc. They're all older, they all have agendas, and as much of a mess as Varian was, it seems like he Got That wrt: politics of the friendly, and Anduin... does not. Even his "I <3 Shaw because Shaw tells it to me straight!" is like, classic con man/grifter tactics, even though I don't think Shaw is aware of that himself[2] or trying to do it... but still. TBH, the only reason Tyrande and Malfurion don't really count is because they're supremely distracted/distant from the Alliance and Anduin wasn't on the Cosmic Power A-Plot A-Team, power-level-wise, until Shadowlands. If Anduin had been the junior member of The Avengers[3] he has since been shown to be like during Cataclysm or Legion or whatever, they 100% would have made him their little monkey-boy, especially given how heart-eyes he gets over Tyrande giving him a mere kiss on the cheek... which actually just makes me think how great it would have been in Legion if Anduin had been allowed/allowed himself to be in it (sure, Varian wanted him to stay home, but Varian was dead and Genn's not his dad), because Anduin deserves to hang out with Khadgar.)

[2] Like, Shaw is explicitly partnered with a man who lives in a kingdom that executes people for stealing jewelry. He should know better, and like, maybe you can blame all that shit on Daelin or Priscilla Ashvane or even Katherine Proudmoore, hopefully that's not something Jaina is complicit in, but like... Shaw's reaction is basically to think about SI:7 and be like "yeah the world is terrible", and as a Shaw/Edwin truther, it's kind of fucked up. Shaw's sense of morality is pretty busted. He spends all this time thinking about how Anduin is a naive kid, and I'd argue Anduin's naivete literally extends to thinking Shaw is being straight with him, because NOPE. And Shaw should know that, and could choose to be honest... but isn't. Almost like monarchy is a fundamentally impossible form of government that inevitably fails! Anyway.

[3] It's interesting that we still don't actually know Anduin's Power Level at all, given the whole Jailer shenanigans. Apparently his being able to call on the Light even in the Maw is a big deal (which makes The Maw seem like a weird metaphor for a black hole even more than it already was), but that doesn't help him from getting utterly owned by the Jailer. Jury's out on who the "Child of Light and Shadow" in the creepy tree prophecy is, but Anduin's not a worse candidate than Illidan (don't see any Light there tbh) or Arator (fits the bill with his overly thematic parents AND he's named The Redeemer. Given Son of the Wolf and Velen's gushing he's obviously strong, but like... strong in potential, or actually strong?

I think Anduin is pretty bland and generic, and that Wrathion is the one with any personality in their interactions.

[fg083]

much to think about

[tiefsterwinter]

[leintjexd]

HOLY SHIT IT’S DONE

[favoritedragonprince]

My prin...King, Wrathion, I'm King...

SO, Blizzard you blessed me with my boy and I appreciate that a lot but listen

If you make that my dear boys facr each other without dragon daddy calling Anduin a prince and the correction of our young alliance leader...

I'll get all angry pingu ok you.

Ty

[wranduin-fuck]

the ENTIRITY of blizzard entertainment when they missed the golden opportunity to have wrathion make an epic comeback in 8.2

[ms-mary-macky]

How recruiting Wrathion into the Alliance will probably go down.

[love-in-the-storm]

PSA: Anduin Llane Wrynn is a very gay king.

And we all love him for it.

[doctordragon]

Fr tho I think it will be great to see wranduin in the war within because in mop and bfa wrathion was the one who was an absolute emotional disaster and anduin has at least some semblance of his shit together

But dragonflight sees wrathion becoming more emotionally stable and addressing his intimacy problems. Now anduin is the one who's an absolute wreck. I'm kind of here for it

[kindavenomous]

[anduln]

hm so i wasn’t aware of all this lore & that apparently now anduin hates wrathion (i’ve literally never come across these cinematics while playing bfa) but i’m so considering writing a wranduin fic where they build their friendship & eventual relationship back up again………. hm………

[johnnysmith]

nap time

[oroontheheels]

[I’m furious]