#perhaps another cambion to contrast mizora and raphael | Explore Tumblr posts and blogs

constantvariations · 3 months ago

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I get why people say Wyll/Karlach is enemies-to-lovers but it's missing too many of its signatures for me to agree

By nature, E-t-L's are slow burn. A good chunk of the story waits for one party to discover they're on the wrong side/both parties to realize they have more in common with each other than their factions, then a whole other chunk is dedicated to them learning how to trust each other. The higher the stakes in the story, the slower the burn

Yet everything between Wyll and Karlach is revealed and resolved in a single conversation. There are no lasting consequences of that initial animosity. Both are too good to hold grudges and all the fault lies firmly in hands not their own. Karlach trusts Wyll instantly and he her. Their friendship is so immediate that it's easy to forget that we met Karlach with the intent to kill her

And then there's the source of their quarrel. Wyll was led to believe Karlach's a devil seeking destruction and Karlach was just trying to go home. The thing that sets them against each other isn't their own beliefs or loyalties or anything deep seated and personal, it's the chain of command, something they're both eager to be rid of by the time we meet them. While it gives them something in common, it leaves them with nothing to unpack or overcome together

Compare that to the king of E-t-L's, Zutara of Avatar the Last Airbender. Zuko spent most of the show's runtime trying to capture the Avatar to guarantee the Fire Nation's total conquest, something Katara wants to prevent at all costs. When the two are stuck together by happenstance, they lash out at each other only to bond over their lost mothers. Then Zuko betrays her, something Katara does not forget and does not forgive until he proves himself much, much later. Afterwards, they support each other, watch over the others together, and make a damn good team against Azula. Perfect, should have been canon, fuck Bryke

Honestly, I think Wyllach is just Faerûn's version of a meet-cute

#baldur's gate 3 #yodeling into the void #karlach cliffgate #wyll ravengard #ive always found it difficult to justify killing karlach once you learn abt her backstory #outside of being an apathetic murderhobo what reason is there to kill someone trying to flee a war they never wanted to join?#i think some elements could have been salvaged if karlach had genuinely been a fiend #perhaps another cambion to contrast mizora and raphael #or maybe an alu-fiend for variety?#hells even a straight up succubus to really make the player wonder if she's going to be a threat if allowed to live #adds to the whole monsters in the making bit going on #her backstory and abilities would have to be altered but i dont think her personality would need to change at all #itd be neat to see a devil that isnt a business major #and i really like that one rewrite post where Wyll's relationship w Mizora is less antagonistic bc she's yknow.#actually being manipulative in her affection rather than whatever the fuck she's doing in canon #and the reason wyll is so susceptible to it is bc he believes so strongly in the good in everyone. even devils #and karlach being a devil whilst also a genuinely good person would open his eye to the fact that Mizora is Not Good #especially not good for him #i like wyllach but it doesn't intrigue me quite like wyllstarion or wyllzel #those two ships have that zing of 'by all accounts i should kill you for being a threat to innocents yet i cant help but fall for you'#fiend!karlach would fit right into that particular lovely niche #ngl the more i think abt it the more i want fiend!karlach #toss in werewolf!shadowheart and you'll have an entire party consisting of nightmare fuel and gale #make him be like sole human freddie in the eldritch scooby gang lmaoooo

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