I was super inspired by @navyinks design for Wilwarindil, so I thought I’d borrow it for this little comic! <333 I do hope I did it justice ... I also borrowed Beleron’s design, but I forgot to add the spots on his face and arms, my bad (and please forgive the super sketchiness! ^^;;;)
What started this comic was something that I noticed in the commission! I mentioned it before, but I saw that Navy painted golden butterflies closest to Beleron, while the butterflies near Wil were blue. And so I came up with a headcanon that Wil’s blue butterflies turn gold when they’re near the Edain (or Beleron and Beledir in particular, perhaps to signify Wil’s feelings for them :DDD)
While drawing this, I listened to AURORA’s cover of Scarborough Fair, and now it gives me vibes for these three (not necessarily the lyrics though, unless you put them in a platonic setting loll)
Whelp, here it is! Part 1 of the Evil!Wilwarindil AU that nobody’s been waiting for! (unfortunately I had to split this into two parts because there’s 12 panels siiiiigh)
I actually have a lot of thoughts about this AU loll So prepare for a Ted Talk!
This is set sometime after Beleron’s passing, which in turn happened shortly after Wil returned from his three-year travels around Beleriand. I’m thinking that Morgoth or Sauron (or both) tried to convert Wil during that period -- messing around with his head and playing on his hidden/growing fears, specifically of something happening to Beleron and Beledir.
So when he finally returns to the village and Beleron passes, Wil is left vulnerable, and Sauron takes advantage of that (I say Sauron in particular because I don’t imagine Morgoth would leave Angband for all this dirty work loll). In Beledir’s eyes, Wil goes “missing,” but I think he’d be brought to Angband and meet Morgoth there while Beledir and his family are going through their mourning process.
Wil’s main fear now is that he’ll lose Beledir to mortality. He knows it’s inevitable; nothing can change Eru’s Gift. But Morgoth could promise to share knowledge if Wil joins them -- perhaps there’s a way to keep Beledir’s fëa in Arda? Bind it to another source? In a way, keeping Beledir “alive” forever by holding on to his spirit, or something like that. Given that Wil’s theme is of change and transformation, life and death (cuz butterfly symbolism), I feel that he’d have some abilities with regard to that (rather like Melian using her power to create the protective Girdle).
When Wil returns to the village, Beledir notices that something’s wrong. They talk, and he learns that Wil’s turned to the dark side. I imagine they get into a fight, and Wil acts out in the emotions of the moment. He tries to take Beledir by force, but it could also be interpreted as him trying to turn Beledir to his side, I think.
Well, Beledir passes out from the pain/stress/whatever you imagine went on, but that’s not the end of it! One of Wil’s golden butterflies appears and ... Well, I’ll talk more about that in part 2, and I’m actually really eager to tell y’all about it!! because it’s all about loooove T_T
Part 2 of my Evil!Wilwarindil AU! Feel free to check out part 1 if you haven’t already :DDD
And now continuing with my story ramblings! We will now dive into the golden butterfly lore; you can find their first appearance here!
During his time with Beleron and Beledir, Wil’s butterflies turned gold around them because he loved them greatly. I imagine that those butterflies stayed gold permanently, either because they remember that Beledir is beloved to Wil, or that they become the embodiment of Wil’s love that was pure and good -- or maybe both!
(Also I’m sorry to bug you @navyinks but I just wanted to thank you again for your compositional choice in the commission! <333 I know you said it was a coincidence, but if it wasn’t for your composition genius and the happy placement of the butterflies, I wouldn’t be having all these Feels, so thank you very much and even if it the golden butterflies never appeared in the commission I’d still be very grateful to your and your hard work so thank you-)
So it is here that those golden butterflies come to Beledir’s rescue, lifting him up in a great cloud and carrying him off to a safe place. In Wil’s pov, he’s been betrayed by his companions as they take Beledir away. But it can also represent the idea that his love that was once good is now gone from him, and the love that he feels now is twisted and dark due to his fears (and Sauron’s manipulation etc.)
As for what happens after ... Well, Wil is on Morgoth’s side now; maybe he'd work with Sauron, using his corrupted butterfly friends as spies. I haven’t really thought about what Evil!Wil’s use would be, y’know? But despite what he’s doing, his continuous mission (in his mind) is to search for Beledir.
This also gives me the opportunity to give Evil!Wil a new name and design XDDD My idea is to give him a moth theme, which I find very fitting for his story in this AU: moths are attracted to light, and, applying this to Wil, he is searching for Beledir who is his light -- quite literally, given that Beledir is now accompanied by the golden butterflies T_T
