#this is actually an older headcanon that I'm finally getting around to editing and updating

[themechaneer]

So this one’s been on my mind to crank out for a long time but I feel like I never really had the words until @trcstfunded​ and I got to talking one night about our lads and how they grew up so different and words just happened. This one is basically gonna be me copy and pasting some of that from discord while supplementing it with some other thoughts. ANYWAYS——— Why Joel’s element personality wise and aesthetically speaking is FIRE. The ramble edition.

I think the reason I most wanna get this down somewhere is because I know the stereotypes surrounding this element personality wise and they do not at all match up with the picture I’ve painted you all of Joel so far. And without living in my head and being there for the journey of arriving at this decision for him I do think it’s only fair I explain myself a little.

EXCERPT FROM A DISCORD CONVO WITH AMBER

( I mean— the element I attach to Joel is🔥. Makes sense. Generally speaking Joel’s a cozy hearth that always welcomes people closer to curl up near and warm themselves with. But he can also act as a beacon for those lost as a source of stability and consistency or a campfire when the night grows dark and you need a light and something warm to get you through it. And at his ‘worst’ or when he’s been pushed too far and well past the point of gentle, hellfire ._. [3:27 AM] Takes a LOT to get him to that last place though. And he works HARD at being that way. )

What you have to always remember about Joel is that while patient, warm, kind, and sensitive, this isn’t Joel’s natural way of being. He was raised to be this way from a very young age and has been working hard at being so since childhood. He wasn’t always as polished or practiced at being patient with others and how they feel as he is in his main verses. Find him in his twenties, he’s a little more on the arrogant side, a little cockier, a little less careful with his words, less guarded with showing people exactly how he feels over simply telling them. Find him even younger, prone to frustration at himself, at the how overwhelming his own emotions are without the addition of the emotions of others constantly triggering or amplifying them through his empathy and his inability to simply ignore them.

Yes, fire can be frightening, temperamental, destructive even when it’s not kept in check and carefully tended to. So can Joel. The only reason he isn’t a force that leans into the more violent aspects associated with fire is because he’s been working hard against those parts of himself since he was a boy, and without the guidance he had from his parents, the lessons and inspiration he gained from his brother growing up, without the supports he needed, he probably would have failed and the Joel you know would be a very different sort of person.

Fire can be violent. Some of the worst tragedies in history are associated with fire that couldn’t be controlled or contained. But they can also be a source of comfort, warmth, and light. Joel is capable of all this and it’s just the luck of those close to him he is not a man that takes any sort of pleasure in destroying things. Even if trying to avoid such damage can mean drowning out himself, how he feels in favor of protecting others. It’s why the only people who truly know Joel are the very few he ever lets see both sides of him. That he trusts can’t only handle him unfiltered, uncontained, honest—–, but can accept this part of him as well, the parts he tries to drown for everyone else.

What do I do when I want to Be as close as I can get to you? If I set you on fire Will you keep me warm? Can you promise me you won’t burn?

Joel Valor F o r g e s

Anyone who has played Death Stranding knows that names of characters can often indicate something significant about them be it backstory or skillset. Joel is no exception. I’ve talked about the importance of his last name before, and you can find that headcanon post HERE. I won’t rehash that entire post but I will reiterate that his last name as a word means 1. To make or shape with fire. 2. To create. In all the good work he does be it repurposing or reforging something for someone or creating something new, Joel’s favorite method & medium to use has always been fire. Fire is not something that should be played with, but try and tell him that. ;)

Lastly—–,

“ Man once said the first tools ever made were ropes and sticks. Sticks to keep all the bad shit away…, and ropes to keep everything good nice and close. ” - Higgs Monaghan, @goldenmasked​​

They may have been the first sure. But history will tell you the most celebrated tool of mankind, the game changer, was f i r e. For the acquisition of fire brought the ability to create & destroy. It gave humanity warmth, it gave them light, the ability to cook food that’d been inedible before, a last resort to seal a life-ending wound wen no other way works, a way of traveling forward no matter how dark things became. If some of this doesn’t sound at least somewhat symbolic of Joel IDK what to tell you guys lmao. I know at a glance equating him to this element & aesthetic doesn’t make a ton of sense. But I hope now that I’ve done my very best if not wordiest to explain how I see things, you can see it to?