#pd analysis

[fizzyorange-v2]

any thoughts on pd ep 33, comprehensible or not?

‼️ MAJOR SPOILER AHEAD FOR EPISODES 30-33 OF JRWI PRIME DEFENDERS ‼️

also sorry anon this got way out of hand

Oh man where would i even START. I think what’s really getting me is the heartbreak. What’s still haunting me is that very last line William says, “I really wanted to have a brother.” Like fuck. FUCK!! Fuck Charlie Slimecicle for always giving his characters the most excruciating of sibling relationships and fuck Bizly for playing David so goddamn well.

William got himself into this mess by following his brain, by thinking that the logical thing to do to save the most people and make sure everyone got out of this alive was to just let David take his samples and make sure no one else got hurt in the process. But it’s so clear in episode 33 that despite his better judgement, despite knowing LOGICALLY he shouldn’t trust David, shouldn’t believe him… he does. Because he wants to believe his brother might not be so bad, that he might finally have a brother at all, that there was one thing that came out of deadwood that wasn’t sick.

I keep going back to that scene in David’s private room, where he gives William what is ostensibly his first drink, plays the role of big brother so well, asks him questions to which William spills everything because how could he not? After years of feeling like and believing the older brother he always considered better than him hated him, disliked him, thought him (rightfully in his mind) a freak, how could he refuse this olive branch?

So William tells him everything, and David tells him to come home safe. David tells him he’ll protect him if he needs, that he can come to him for help. When William goes to awkwardly leave, David pulls him in for a hug.

And the worst part of all? I don’t think David is necessarily lying. Or faking. Not fully, at least. I think David is finally interested in William now, in his own twisted way. I think he’s stopped seeing him as some weirdo little brother who disappeared to go be some self righteous hero, and instead started seeing him as… an equal-ish. Someone more on his level. Someone who does see the world for what it is, and is willing to do what it takes to make those hard calls. He was using William, absolutely. Manipulating him for his own ends, without a doubt. But I think he meant it when he told William to make sure he made it back safe. I think he was also welcoming to the idea of them getting closer, maybe becoming brothers for real.

That’s why I think David was so confused when William came bursting into his penthouse with Vyncent. I don’t think he understood one bit why William was so upset. Other than the news that one of the vigilantes had died, nothing else in his mind had changed. It appears he didn’t even know she did, his people just knew to cover his tracks without needing to be told. He wasn’t keeping it a secret from William, his true lie was in telling William the serum was harmless in the first place. And I think he’s going to stay confused, and I think he’s going to feel betrayed and I know any chances of them ever really being brothers died with Cantrip.

And it breaks my heart for William because he wanted to believe so hard. He was going to split those samples, y’know? He told Vyncent “the board made him do it”. He told David about Ashe. About his fears around Mal. About how he’s afraid being able to drink and feel and live again might all go away. He wanted to have an older brother he could trust so bad. And now one of their only friends is dead, and William killed her, and no amount of logic or rationalisations or leaps of faiths in the world is going to fix that.

William’s haunting speech to David at the end… fuck man. All that rage, all that guilt, all that self hatred William has projected back and forced down the throat, nose, ears of the brother that doesn’t but should. Turning the tool he learnt and used under David’s command back on him.

My thoughts? I think William was doomed the moment he tried to win an argument in that operation room with the older brother he always considered smarter better and more successful than him in every way. There’s nothing more impressionable in the world than a younger brother.

But I also think William might finally stop digging himself deeper, at least for now. How heavily Cantrip’s death weighs on him, Dakota’s reactions, Mal making another appearance, what David and his parents are going to be like after all this… it is all still up in the air.

Fuck man. Ultimately, I still can’t get over that very last line. “I really wanted to have a brother.” Because that’s what it was all about, really. Not being pro hero or anti hero, not a villainous descent nor a sudden morality change… just William hoping his older brother could finally love him.

But David just proved his theory right: that everything that comes from Deadwood is sick and twisted and wrong. Nothing good has ever come from that place. Certainly not David… and certainly not himself, either.

[fizzyorange-v2]

HELLO???????? OH MY GOD. WILLIAM REPRESSED HIS WISP FORM OUT OF FEAR OF BECOMING LIKE THE TRICKSTER AND THE TRAUMA OF LOSING ASHE. OH MY GODDDDD

[fizzyorange-v2]

yeah you put all of my thoughts about david and william's relationship into that one post they're so tragic... i cant help but think of a different timeline where they could have been awkward brothers together, maybe one where they didn't both come from deadwood. the foreshadowing on william's part too, where in the Michael in the Bathroom parody intro from ep 32 (of all places) william sings "he's always such a bummer, he wants to trust his brother" in referring to himself. Also, the implication that everyone who comes from deadwood is messed up makes me wonder how william's parents are. maybe it has to do with the hallway of fears all the way from season 1, where william's mirror showed his father behind him with messed up eyes?

/ pd ep 33 spoilers referenced beware

Maybe in a totally different universe they could’ve had an awkward and strained but mostly healthy and normal sibling relationship. but god knows with who David is in this universe (a morally corrupt ceo) any version of William that allows himself to get close with and trust his step brother is a version that is either equally morally corrupt, very manipulated or both, and no matter what it wouldn’t be a healthy dynamic. (and that’s not really a compliant on my part, i adore fucked up and messy relationships in media lol).

Totally agree that the Michael In The Bathroom cover gave us probably one of the clearest looks into William’s psyche during this whole thing. William really did go that far because he wanted to trust his brother, and he knew if he backed out then he could lose that potential sibling relationship forever. But obviously once he realised he’d actually KILLED someone for it… the betrayal and horror overpowered that old yearning.

William’s parents have always been a source of interest to me because like… William has never said anything outwardly negative about them, but then his actions and demeanour around them always portray something slightly different. I do believe he loves and cares for his parents. But I also think the relationship there has always been kind of strained. My guess is, on top of the general David was the big shot success story William could never live up to, William was always quite distant with his family. He could always see the supernatural (something that even then made him somewhat a freak from this weird but still rural seemingly conservative leaning town) and he spent most of his time out with friends on hunts that I doubt he ever told his parents the truth of before he actually died.

His parents are canonically church goers, it would make sense that William wouldn’t want to tell them he was messing around with devilish stuff, nor that he himself was possessed in some way and able to see the dead. But then he dies, and his freakishness goes from 1 to 100 and there’s no way he can hide it now, especially not if his parents are shown his dead, lifeless body before he wakes back up in it. And maybe his parents saw this as a miracle at first, rather than the work of the devil, but either way we know from the recent rolled that William truly believes his parents see him as some freak, and I’d definitely guess the other towns people if they knew… maybe it wasn’t great for the family reputation wise in such a small town.

And there is something to the fact that, well, in the end when the monsters came for William they did just give him away to the heroes. And sure, they stayed in touch somewhat? But even then it’s one or two calls in months to years of time to your teenaged kid (though I’ll retract that if it’s implied that it was William dodging their calls… but even that leads to a point I’ll make in a bit).

But then whenever they do come back,,, even after everything they don’t seem to take William seriously. Which is very interesting. They’re often worried about him, but they don’t seem to listen to him as we saw in their recent scene where his mum got mad and had to be really persuaded to leave. They don’t seem to comprehend the severity.

They don’t understand what’s going on with him, they don’t have a clue, and I don’t think they ever really did. I think William has always been too afraid to tell them the truth about what’s going on with him (whether that was being able to see the dead, or now all the hero villain mess he’s stuck in), he’s always been afraid of them seeing him like a freak, them no longer loving him. And so he keeps it a secret and he keeps it away from them and he distances himself the best he can. He’d probably argue that it’s to keep them safe, but I think he’s mostly protecting his own heartbreak of them finding out “who he really is” and rejecting him. I think that’s his big fear, and it’s a fear he’s carried around with him since even before his first death.

So while I don’t think his parents are,,, necessarily malicious. I think they’ve definitely fucked up with William. I don’t think they ever made him feel safe enough to be himself around them. I don’t think they’ve ever been there for William when he really needed. And I don’t think they’ve ever known who their son was. But then they still act like they know best for him, they still play the concerned parents. And I think they genuinely believe they do know and want what’s best for William. But the issue there is… they don’t know who William is, and they haven’t for a really long time.

David left too, y’know? He also got the hell out deadwood as soon as he could. He also talked to (and bonded with) William over their clear joint disliking of that place. And I wonder if his parents are oblivious to how much their kids hated where they grew up, if they’re just oblivious to all of the weirdness of deadwood. Why they chose to live and stay there in the first place. They still live there to this day!

I don’t know,,, I have a lot of thoughts about the wisp-bell family and all the mess and dysfunction there. I didn’t even really get into the religious trauma of it all, which is likely a strong part of why William felt the need to hide and distance himself from his parents,,, but yeah I’ll stop rambling for now lol

[fizzyorange-v2]

wouldn’t it be sooooo funny and narratively cathartic for both their characters if at some point william is once again falling. whether that be physically off another fucking cliff, or into some kind of hell portal, or anything that would actually pose deadly threat to the ghost boy that can technically float and fly. or shit, now it seems worryingly possible it could be william falling more morally/metaphorically from heroism itself into some kind of villainy.

either way though, william is again falling to his doom. but this time dakota is there, and he catches him.

whether that’s by physically grabbing on to his hand or symbolically offering it out for him to take to once again join them or fucking both at once.

and he stops william from falling.

and this time, dakota has the strength to pull his friend back up. this time, dakota gets to save them both.

so this time, william doesn’t fall. because this time? william isn’t alone. isn’t lost in the woods without any guidance but a strange blue flicker.

because this time william has his friends to catch him.

and so, this time… william doesn’t die.

i feel like this fundamentally would heal an open wound both dakota and william have been carrying around from the very beginning; finally, dakota is strong enough to save his friend from a deadly fall. finally, someone is there to catch william before it’s too late.

dakota finally gets to save the unsaveable, and william finally gets to stop falling to the fate he’s had since the beginning.

[fizzyorange-v2]

just wrote a 7.3k comment for a william & dakota centric pd fic. yes it was that good. no i am not mentally well. this is a dnd/mcyt blog on tumblr dot com. none of you can judge me.

here is a link to the fic if you are a based william & dakota enjoyer. or if you just want to see if i’m lying or not. there’s only one way to find out :)

An Archive of Our Own, a project of the Organization for Transformative Works

(but genuinely guys. if you enjoy william and dakota’s dynamic in the show, you need to read this. my brain is still melting.)

anyway back into the abyss i go

[fizzyorange-v2]

REVELATION: American Healthcare is a William Wisp song. just exchange “doctor” with “hero” and hhhhhh

[doitforpink]

maybe someone has already discussed this but why didn't Blue Diamond and the rest of the court recognize Rose Quartz's voice in "The Answer"? She makes her announcement (about earth being protected) loud and clear, without altering her voice at all