Letâs Talk About Wilby For a Second...
With all this Disney at Last hangover and all the news of the new series and âis everyone gonna be marriedâ and what not, itâs something Iâve been thinking about. Because when you really think about it, I think itâs safe to say that Wilby is the couple most deeply in love out of the three.
Ridley writes next to nothing about Wilby, we know that. And sometimes what we do getâŠtiny little moments that on the surface seem like nothing. But when you think about it a lot, Willa and Philby have been in love the longest and are honestly the ones I would most expect to be getting married if I knew them in real life.
Now obviously thereâs the buffer of Fimanda here. Theyâre the âmainâ romance(I donât consider any character or romance main in this series, but they have the most written about them). They have these huge epic moments and speaking now at the age of 18 like they are definitely soulmates, and Amanda 5 seconds away from launching herself on Finnâs funeral pyre(I donât know why Iâm being salty I love them a lot). So yeah, it would be quick to say that Fimanda is most in love, and that thatâs why theyâre the only ones confirmed married in the new series. But hear me out.
Look at Wilby. First of all, they were the first ones to express that they were in love with each other. We only ever see it written from Willaâs side of the equation, but itâs assumed to be mutual. But Iâm not just talking about that moment in The Insider(which donât get me wrong, still KILLS me every time). Thereâs a moment in book 5, before theyâre even dating, when Willa says, out loud, âthatâs what I love about you.â and Philby considers kissing her right then.
Now, obviously I may be biased, but I just get this vibe when I think about Wilby and their moments of this deep connection that goes beyond the other couples. Itâs like they have these much bigger moments that are not written about that you can understand have been happening when they have their small moments. On first impression this wouldnât seem right. There hasnât even been a kiss written. But letâs think about this.
Whenever thereâs a discussion of the possibility of losing each other, or their shared love and familial feelings for each other, itâs always Wilby that we see holding hands. When Philby and Maybeck needed to be woken up with true loveâs kiss, it was Willa that first suggested it, that kept insisting on it even when everyone doubted her. While they donât have many big moments, theyâre kind of always flirting.
Itâs also worth mentioning that their big moments are some of the most beautiful in the series. Not that in terms of relationship that theyâre more significant than say, Amanda saving Finnâs life all the time. But these moments that we see from Willa and Philby are indicative of such a incredibly deep connection. Itâs there from early on in the books but lets talk later on: thoughts of Willa getting Philby to all clear and safety, Willa saying âI love youâ giving Philby the strength to keep fighting when he was near death, Philby holding Willa in his arms and comforting her when she had PTSD in Toontown, Willa expressing how she was afraid of going to college and being apart from Philby, âIâll never doubt you again.â, Willa clutching Philbyâs hand tightly and saying that they could stay in 1955.
On further consideration, it doesnât bother me that much anymore that weâve never had a written kiss for Wilby. Iâm starting to think that itâs just who they are. Theyâre shy people, usually focused on solving puzzles, I donât think theyâd like public displays of affection all that much. Itâs even said in Disney At Last, when Philby kisses Willa on the cheek, normally sheâd be mad about it. Maybe they donât even kiss that much when theyâre on their own.
But although they donât kiss much, their writing is chock full of expressing their love for each other, fighting for each other, connecting to each other more strongly than they do to any other keepers, holding each other in their arms, little cheek kisses and hand holds, always being desperate to stay together.
That got deeper than I planned but basically what Iâm saying is Willa and Dell would be that highschool sweetheart couple that you didnât even know was dating and next thing you know youâre checking your Facebook a year after graduation and see theyâre engaged.
