Realizing I've had a baked in polyamorous angle to isuwei/waverider for years without clocking it
I've long held that I view Waver and Rider's dynamic as being alterous from Waver's end, that Iskandar is so important to him and shaped the trajectory of his life to such a degree that his feelings encompass and blur the line between platonic or romantic, the exact nature of them isn't important due to the intensity of it all
Yet from Iskandar's view, Waver simply doesn't encompass his life the same way, but he is a piece of his treasure and a catalyst for him to push a follower of his to not chase what may only be a dream, for life to have even more value than he already gives it
So this angle that fits so naturally into their dynamic for me is like
Waver is a piece of Iskandar's greatest treasure, his armies and loyal followers, and there isn't jealousy on Waver's part that he's not his most important person's one and only- it's a deep honor to be included among a mass of people he could never have seen himself fitting in with before (direct contrast to the Clock Tower) and so all of his feelings and theoretical desires/nature of his bond is like, very okay with others having the same thing towards Iskandar and maybe even thrives off of it (see: he was considering letting Flat have the relic in fsf)
So it's unbalanced by design but that's okay, good even, and i don't think Iskandar cares for Waver any less (again, the nature of it is nebulous to me and would just depend on what Waver needs/wants) just because there's an army at his back
You can be loved by someone who has other people and yet you're welcomed and included too, isn't that idea wonderful?
