#i don't typically seek out NPC/NPC ships when custom characters are an option

[invinciblerodent]

How do you feel about Wyllstarion? I've been obsessed with it for years, but I'll admit I've only played as Astarion romancing Wyll, not the other way around. And all the fanfics I've read annoy me for one reason or another. But I really do like the pairing, something about Mizora and Cazador both leaving them with scars, something about Wyll losing his place as the Ravengard heir - could he have noticed the Szarr situation if he stayed in the city, could he have rescued Astarion without the tadpole? Just a lot of interesting pieces to play with, except I don't see anyone playing with them. Sad

You know, I don't really feel any way about that pairing, if I'm to be honest? I haven't looked into it on purpose, and I haven't seen enough unintentionally that it would have intrigued me (whenever it's applicable, I'm generally more easily engaged by PC/NPC pairs, by seeing how someone would breathe life into a mostly blank character in such a way that they would fall for another, than I am by virtually any NPC/NPC ship), but I see what you mean. It doesn't personally appeal to me too much, I guess mostly because of differences in personality and the differences in their desires for a romantic partner that their individual arcs imply, but I can see that there is at least material to play with, things to base a connection on. A shared hometown, a somewhat similar personal arc of breaking the chains of effective slavery, what-ifs, even expressions of attraction, respective issues with a father-, and a twisted but thematically father-adjactent figure, Wyll just generally being a kind enough person not to punt Astarion into the Waking Sea... I get it, I do.

I'm trying to be very diplomatic about all of this, I don't want anyone to feel like they can't play with their toys however they want to, because they obviously can, these guys are all fucking fictional and what someone else does with them in their head is none of my fucking beeswax, but...

I feel like it's just sadly kind of telling, just how much more engagement I see (again, without ever seeking it out) of a combination of characters that I personally believe to be lacking in points of obvious interest (like if the most obvious thing they have in common is that they are the only two [insert adjective here] men on the game's main cast), than many others with clearly more meat on their bones, and there is not a shred of doubt in my mind that racism and misogyny (conscious or unconscious) both very much could have a hand in that.

If this doesn't apply to someone and they're seeing something in that combo that I'm not, they're more than welcome not to put this particular shirt on, again I don't really want it explained to me again lol, but... I don't think the trend of this happening within fandoms over and over again can be effectively denied.