#i am really normal about flatlander bill i promise :)

[irregularbillcipher]

i’m gonna write something someday about why bill being someone with a mild irregularity who was “repaired” feels so Correct to me and thematically i have a lot to say, but from a pure lore standpoint a lot of it comes down to the fact that the exwhylia page focuses heavily on two things— the caste system, which obviously impacted bill because triangle, and irregularity

like to make a clear flatland reference, irregularity did NOT have to be mentioned. there are other aspects of flatland’s world building that are technically more important and given more time than irregularity. exwhylia does not mention a strict gender binary or anything to do with lines in general, despite it being one of the most important systems of oppression in the book. i've complained occasionally about people willing to discuss how flatland tackles misogyny, but getting cold feet when discussing how it critiques eugenics, and i stand by the fact that it's frustrating, but the criticism of misogyny is central to a lot of first half of the novel. so if the exwhylia page was just trying to wink-wink-nudge-nudge to the audience that "hey, this is a flatland reference, btw!" and was not trying to specifically connect certain aspects of flatland to bill, then discussing the treatment of lines seems like a pretty clear thing to have added on the page, but it's not there

or hell, color! obviously the restriction of art and color is something that would have impacted bill, but it's also something that would have impacted every flatlander, not just bill. or even going more in depth about the caste systems instead of simplifying it to circles and triangles, if the goal was "flatland reference" and not "things that would have impacted bill." so the choice to leave out less Iconic flatland worldbuilding, like the gender binary and the lack of color, but to include irregularity... it's a deliberate choice, is all i'm saying. when ford goes "here's the class system of this dimension, it includes a high class circle and a lowly triangle... i think bill probably came from a dimension like this. btw they thought i was super irregular, here's what that means-- then i got saved by the oracle and she gave me a ton of info about bill!" it lumps irregularity in with Getting Information About Bill in a way that's interesting! and they could have easily attacked ford for being a being who appeared colorful, or had him encounter a circle who recognized him as something three dimensional, but they chose to bring irregularity up instead

the other main reason is that we know, canonically, that bill's homelife/relationship with his parents was Not Good. but the thing is, that's odd for a flatlander!

flatland society stresses the importance and reverence of the next generation, instead of a societal respect for one's elders, so the idea of bill being mistreated by his parents seems odd. sure, i'm sure they woulda been happier if he was born a square, but if he was a perfectly regular equilateral, he still would have had the potential to marry and have a square for a son. he would still have a role to play and by societal standards in flatland, there would have been an expectation that bill would have been treated well with his parents, so that he could be in the best shape possible to find a gal and marry off and hopefully have a square. if he had a family relationship "worse than stan's," though, well... it would make sense if he was irregular, because the societal expectation to treat him well to ensure the cipher bloodline gets closer to circledom would be moot if he was a failure by the ableist standards of his society. his parents also would have likely been seen as failures, creating resentment from day one, and they likely would have been barred from trying for more children, because, again, eugenics state. so either bill ends his family line, or he at least ends any chance his parents have of finally getting a square son, (because i'm sure if they were still popping out babies they hadn't achieved that yet and likely would not be allowed to have more kids after having an irregular,) and ends up the almost guaranteed least favorite kid if he has any older siblings

obviously i'm not saying that all parents in a society that puts their kids "first" (for class ascension reasons) are actually going to be given a healthy and stable childhood, ofc, but irregular bill gives an explanation as to why he may have had a troubled homelife from the jump

anyway