Now pick a wof ship and talk about it!
Sincerely, a fan of a certain blazing ship that took two arcs to develop because it's just that good, and one that i would really really like to hear an analysis for :3
anon I’m so sorry that this took longer, I had multiple paragraphs that got deleted by Tumblr, and effectively had to start over-
Cleril is my favorite part of Wings Of Fire and it is not even close
legitimately, it’s actually what got me hooked on the series, and I REALLY wanted Peril to tag along with the DoD throughout the rest of arc 1 lol(admittedly there’s an irony to it, since Cleril was partly accidental on Tui’s part)
Since I had to restart, I’m gonna cut the parts of Cleril I wanna talk about into these bits
Clay vs Perils ideology of being a monster and a hero:
THIS to me is the greatest part of their dynamic, and was what made me fall in love with their characters and the series as a whole.
Clay and Peril have been told all their lives that they are monsters, that it was something inherent to them, that they weren’t allowed to act another way because this is what they are born to be, and for the longest time, they were content to accept that lie.
But then they met each other, they met someone who could finally understand what it was like, even if WHY they were called monsters was different, the fact remained they were identified as such. It’s because of this that Clay is then able to see that no, just because they were born a certain way, doesn’t mean they’re monsters, and I feel he came to that conclusion because of the fact he had someone like Peril who he could truly talk to, because as much as the DoD care about Clay, they could never really understand what Kestrel did to him mentally with her dehumanization and abuse.
(of course, ahe also dehumanized and abused the others, like Glory, but it was in a different way, and in a way that made them even more unlikely to understand, because they were focused on their own pain, and either equated it to the others or isolated themselves. I’m getting off track though, so let’s get back to Cleril)
Being able to converse with Peril helped Clay truly internalize himself alongside her, and look at who they both are, and in doing so, he realized neither of them were monsters, just people like anyone else. This then shows in their fight in Book One, where not only does Clay defeat Peril relatively easily, but the two are much more focused on talking conversing with each other, trying to show the other what they believe they both truly are, than they are on killing each other. If either of them were monsters, Clay could’ve killed Peril when he pinned her, and Peril would’ve never bothered with Clay in the first place.
This then brings me to the label the two gain thanks to each other, though at different times and in different but similar manners, and that is being a Hero. Thanks to Peril, Clay is able to realized that no one else gets to choose who they are, or what they do, it’s THEIR choice, and it’s what allows him to become the man we see throughout arc one, who always manages to, in spite of the odds, save his fellow dragonets, like in Book 2 when he saves Tsunami from the skywing, or when he carries 3/4 of the other DoD on his back so they don’t drown, or Book 3 when he rushes into what he assumes is an island of powerful mind readers and seers to save Glory(and by proxy saves Kinkajou, which I wish got brought up at least once lol), or Book 4 when he saves Starflight from the volcano, and in Book 5 when he and Sunny saves the Mudwing army and iconically when he saves everyone from the viper. Clay throughout arc 1 shakes away Kestrels label of monster completely, and instead becomes the bigwings he was always meat to be.
Before I get into Peril’s path to heroism, I actually wanna talk about Clay being a bigwings. To many, this comes off as ruining his and Perils conflict, but to me, it just reinforces Clays point, that they decide who they are, that no one is born a monster, and everyone can have a destiny. While Clays was in a more straightforward manner, Peril too has the ability to be a hero with her powers, and not just be the monster that people labeled her to be.
Now then, onto Peril’s own path to heroism, that Clay helped kickstart. Ever since Book 1, Peril had slowly become more and more disillusioned with Scarlet and how her dynamic relates to her, and this can be seen in Book 8, when she figuratively and literally breaks the chain keeping her tied down to that wicked despot. It’s also in Book 8 that we see throughout Perils internal dialogues and the 3rd person narrative how Peril seeks not only to be with Clay, but also to be a hero, and not the monster she was believed to be. This journey of heroism culminates in Book 8, but we can see it all throughout the books, all the way back in Book 5 when Peril stops a mass scale battle, or when she descends from the sky like a ball of fire to save Clay, or in Book 6 when she rushes into the history cave to try and save Carnelian(now I wish she did save Carnelian just to add onto this tbh). We see time and time again when the chips are down, and she isn’t mentally beaten down, Peril WILL do the right thing, and save the day in blazing fashion.
Clay and Peril become great heroes in their own rights, and it’s all thanks to each other for helping one another have introspection on who they are, and what they were truly meant to be.
Okay before I get to the fun part I wanna get 2 things out of the way. One is how people think Peril only loves Clay because he’s semi fireproof and her only friend, and the other how people think Clay doesn’t love Peril(with some taking it to an extreme of him not caring much for her at all). These are both false to me, and it’s show pretty easily in the books. In Book 1, Peril betrayed Clay to get him to stay BEFORE she knew he was fireproof, and the fact he can touch her is usually secondary at best for her in most of their interactions. As for her feelings, while Peril had unhealthy attachment issues, I feel like people put too much real world logic to this? Not to dismiss it ofc, but I mean it in the sense that this is resolved in Book 8, where Peril gains her own friends in the forms of Turtle, and to a lesser extent Cliff and The Jade Winglet, and this was imo Tui’s way of resolving this issue in a way that’s easily digestible, where Peril not only gains friends other than Clay, but is shown to still love Clay deeply. As for the idea Clay doesn’t particularly care for Peril, this guy sprinted to her on a leg that had its insides burned(as someone with mild sciatica, I know that shit HURT) the moment he saw her in Book 6 lmao, he at the very least cares about her deeply off that alone. There’s also the fact that Darkstalker and Moon both note him having special types of feelings for Peril, as well as Qibli, who’s stated time and time again by the narrative to have a great read on people, telling Peril Clay does love her, he just doesn’t know how to explain it/doesn’t quite realize it himself.
There’s also the fact Tui stated Clay loves Peril but that’s too easy-
Clay wants Peril as part of his destiny so bad it’s legitimately funny lol. First in Book 1 when he suggests maybe she’s their wings of sky(nearly demolished his and Glory’s friendship for this lmao), and when that doesn’t work he tries to have her tag along anyhow despite his friends all disliking her, and then in Book 5, while FADING IN AND OUT OF CONSCIOUSNESS, MUSTERS THE STRENGTH TO SUGGEST SHE’S THEIR WINGS OF FIRE!?! NO WONDER PERIL BLUSHED OVER THAT I WOULD’VE TOO. There’s also arc 2 as a whole where he does everything he can to make Peril feel welcome at JMA, defending her against a LITERAL QUEEN(I know it’s not that type of series where he can get away with it, nor is he the type to do it, but I lowkey would’ve loved if Clay bitchsmacked Ruby lol. Could’ve even been foreshadowing to the enchantment where Ruby just relents due to being enchanted to be weak willed- sorry getting sidetracked). Overall I love how much Clay wants Peril in his life, it’s adorable every time.
Peril meanwhile, like me, thinks Clay is the greatest dragon ever and it’s easy to see why. I know some people dislike it(or at least one person whose tiktok vid complaining about it always shows up when I search for Cleril content) but I honestly love how much Peril praises Clay in her narrative(is this what fanservice feels like when you’re the fan who’s serviced?) There’s this one person who pointed out Peril always holds her talons together and how it’s likely from Clay holding her talons in a lot of their interactions and that makes me so AAAAAAAAAAAAAAA. Peril wanting to be the right dragon for Clay is always so cute to see throughout the books, and I love it so much
Their scene together in Book 6 had me LITERALLY SQUEALING when I read it in both Graphic Novel and Novel Novel form. Clay rushing over to Peril to embrace her talons after everyone else was getting scared of her, all while on a leg that LITERALLY HAD ITS INSIDES BURNED INTO(as someone with mild sciatica I just know that shit HURT), and reaffirming to her how she deserves to be here with everyone, and that he wants her there with him is so AAAAAAA ITS SO CUTE!
There’s also there scene in book 10(that I looked up because I was DESPERATE for Cleril content) that as of now is currently both of their last scenes in the series(which is perfect), that involves the two flying off together for a dance through the rain, which is just….aaaaaa it’s adorable!
There’s also just all their scenes in arc 1- Look anon I could go on forever you get the idea of how much I love when these two are together(even when not together honestly, because of Book 7’s epilogue that delved into Peril’s thoughtful love for Clay, or Book 9 when Darkstalker teases Clay about having a crush on her(lowkey shoutout to Moon, Darkstalker, and Qibli for spelling it out lol)
headcanons cause why not:
-In a modern au, Clay would 100% be the type to try and keep Peril in bed to cuddle lol
-Peril once made poetry for Clay, and since it was her first time it was kinda bad, but Clay loves it and considers everything she makes the greatest thing ever. I imagine Peril takes up poetry as a side hobby, but most of its just about Clay lol.
-Whenever Clay’s near a campfire, he cuddles as close as he can to it, because he wants to be reminded of Peril and her warmth
-Clay has tried to feed Peril by hand on multiple occasions, and she keeled over from Clay doing something so intimate ever single time
-Clay actually thought about Peril a lot during arc 1, but he kept it to himself because he knew the others hated her(mostly Tsunami, but still)
and honestly I could go on but I feel I’ve already written a lot lol(and probably not that well- I’m not the best at writing my own personal thoughts lol)
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