#he's complex

[wylanslcve]

The next time I see someone call Wylan "boring" because his trauma isn't "as bad" as the other Crows' (namely Kaz and Inej's) I'm going to throttle someone. Firstly, trauma isn't comparable: trauma is trauma, regardless of what traumatic experience a person goes through. The point of Six of Crows is that all the Crows are traumatised but find comfort and solace within one another and galvanise each other's healing process.

Secondly, Wylan is a victim of ableism and emotional, mental and physical abuse - which is traumatic - and his story makes me feel physically ill whenever I think about it. As a disabled child, Wylan needed accommodations that his father refused to give him: instead, J*n treated him as something that needed fixing, and treated his disability as pure stubbornness that could be forced out of him with punishment and abuse. He "tried specialists, tonics, beatings, hypnotism" - which are traumatic. J*n also manipulated Wylan into believing that it was his fault by constantly shifting the blame to him (a behaviour very typical amongst abusers). As a result, Wylan never acknowledged his father's behaviour as abusive, which is why he tells Jesper in Crooked Kingdom that "he isn't evil" despite J*n literally trying to kill him twice. In fact, Wylan tries to justify how his father treated him, claiming that he "had done his best to care for his son, and if he’d failed, then the defect lay with Wylan." He also takes it as a display of affection and the desire to protect him, claiming that "his father might sound cruel, but he wasn’t just protecting himself or the Van Eck empire, he was protecting Wylan as well."

Wylan blaming himself for his father's actions doesn't stop there: in the period after Inej is kidnapped by J*n, Wylan feels responsible for what happened despite knowing that "he couldn’t have prevented his father from double-crossing the crew and kidnapping her. He knew that, but he still felt responsible". The guilt is eating away at him because he's so accustomed to taking the blame for his father's wrongdoings. Even after finding out the truth about his mother, which was really the catalyst for him recognising that J*n is indeed evil, his initial response is him blaming himself for it: "it was me. I caused this. He wanted a new wife. He wanted an heir. A real heir, not a moron who can barely spell his own name." This is only made even more sickening when we learn that Wylan would hear how his parents "fought all the time, sometimes about me", which would only amplify his feelings of responsibility for his father sending Marya away, stripping her of her life, family and fortune.

This is all without him not being allowed to grieve his mother's "death". This is all without the imposter syndrome and self-loathing Wylan experiences as a result of all of this, the fear that the Crows would see him as worthless and defective the way his father did and abandon him.

tl;dr: stop overlooking Wylan's trauma because he too has deep mental and emotional scars.

[lotus-duckies]

character depth??? in MY silly little superhero comic??? it's more likely than you'd think

[fearsomejibblet]

I think of all the companion's Ive met so far, Wyll is my favorite.

I just think he's neat

[illiana-mystery]

He really is one cute commander.

[pavlovianpanic]

josh's feelings of inadequacy are so buried by his outer confidence that it's hard to believe he has any devalued sense of self worth. josh comes off as "his best self" because josh is an actor. he acts as josh.

i have josh as a child actor that stopped because he got interested in other parts of filmmaking because of how good he acts for his friends. they have no idea he's losing it, that he's not the same, that's he not himself. but chris does. and that's another post, but ... just a good note to make. chris knows something is wrong with josh. he is the only one that can even ask josh if he's okay.

josh is a) not honest with his doctors, so isn't even properly diagnosed, and b) is often struggling in silence, or relying on chris. he only goes to the hospital when it gets bad, meaning ... he can let it get really bad. josh knows he's not just depressed, he doesn't fully fit into the ADHD or ADD category (it was a strong contender for a while, i think, or at least assumed about him). but josh knows something more is going on, and chris? he would know that, too. if josh was honest, he might get more help. for now, he's more or less coasting.

we have to remember that while josh is actively engaged, he's often seeing things, hearing things, and having to struggle to cope with the fact that no, that's just chris, and that person isn't there, but they want my attention and are saying things to me. on the worst times, he sees worse visions, he is plagued by nightmarish creatures. this definitely gets worse in that monster territory post-death of hannah and beth, before i think he sees a lot of people that aren't real combined with also going into breaks of thinking he is those other people. i've also talked about josh's submissiveness to his altered reality. if he sees hannah, he will trust her. if he's beaten down enough, he will obey.

josh hears the voices of people typically that exist, i've noticed. we see such a limited view, but we get such an intense break that it kind of gives us an idea of this spectrum for him.

some posts that might help: here, here, and here. there's probably a lot of other links in those posts tbh lmao. but really, the fascinating line to me about josh? i trust you. he trusts these visions. meaning he believes them.

i haven't even talked about this, but i think for josh ... there is another chris that exists with him. it's a meaner chris, one that josh has to separate from actual chris. sometimes he even thinks he is chris if he's breaking down. this is not uncommon. josh can often lose who he is if he's not medicated properly, and he's often mismanaging his medications. he complains often of side effects, that they aren't working, but stays on them for decently long periods save for his most recent.

it's all to say ... you wouldn't expect it. josh doesn't "seem the type". it's very assumed he's just stable, probably because he's also so physically stable, and also wears blue.

[whiskeysorrows]

started on another country by james baldwin (ive decided to do it for my english coursework) and the writing style is so exquisitely philosophical and realist at the same time. there's brief moments where rufus gets caught in his thought spirals and perceptions (almost mrs dalloway style) before we're pulled back to the actual plot. i love this writing style so much

[bakedbeanchan]

random fire nation diplomat #492 will never understand the complex and fucked up relationship between the water siblings like I do 🙄

[mo-mode]

“But what does Grover bring to the table? He’s just the comedy relief character.” Grover is juggling the role of babysitter, mediator, and emotional manipulator and he cracks jokes too? Give him a BREAK

[000bun]

[birdy-babe]

Blitzøs entire life spent being unwanted. So he adapted, and learned how to be something needed, something to be used.

Which is why I think he firmly believes he is being used by Stolas. He simply cannot fathom a different reality, one in which he is wanted for once in his life.

[rustybutterknife]

Microdosing polyamory by dating a system

[ririrules60]

old man yaoi

[lotus-duckies]

personally i like that donnie expresses some amount of attraction in the show even if it's towards fictional characters, it adds to the complexity of his character and pushes back against the idea of all autistics characters don't experience attraction herein not comforming to the lgbt stereotype

[chloesimaginationthings]

Pit Bonnie learns being a FNAF parent is hard…

[bethanydelleman]

I was talking about a historical male author I dislike because I found his works misogynistic and the person said, "Oh, well I suppose you don't read Shakespeare either." and I was like, "Shakespeare? SHAKESPEARE?!?! Of course I read Shakespeare, that man loved women."

Shakespeare wrote a wide variety of fleshed out female characters. He wrote Damsels in Distress, Cross-dressing Girlbosses, and Complex Female Villains. He wrote a woman who refused to sell her virtue to save her family and then shamed her brother for suggesting it. He wrote Taming of the Shrew and it's opposite, All's Well that Ends Well, in which the wife hunts down and tames the husband. He wrote men who are good because they listen to, trust, and defend women. He wrote women of all kinds. He wrote women who drive the plot and women doomed by the narrative. He wrote women in love and women who pathetically follow a man who doesn't like them and women in hatred. He wrote sensible women and silly women and everything in between of all ages.

I wish modern authors could write women as well as he did.

[shirecorn]

Monsters

Bittersweet Dreams || Perspective || Evil || Fighter