Hey Jaq im BACK with another ASK!!
(.....and that is how i subtly let people know about my secret rap career-)
Any WPNZ headcannons too? And thoughts on his dynamic with Karen back when they were together?
had to stew on this one a bit, what with my thoughts on wpnz being a lot more disorganized bc i Also like many different and often contradictory takes on him, but, here's what i got
he wasnt just employed by hitman inc., he was explicitly designed and constructed by them, and he's just one of a series of what's effectively intended to be military drones. i don't think his comment to katie about knowing how it feels to be annoyed by ones brothers was a manipulation tactic, he actually meant that. there isn't really closeness or kinship there, though, his "brothers" are more or less exact copies of him with less personal flair and different artillery loadouts. they're quite a bit more obedient to hitman inc. than he ever was.
his bigger arm wasn't originally his, it was one he snatched from one of his 'brothers', and since they're all modular mix-and-match robots, he had no issue integrating it into his own mechanics.
since i personally read & like his & puzzles' connection as not strictly platonic, puzzles being a guy did not at all cause any internalized homophobia hangups for him when he realized he actually gave a shit about him - wpnz is bi, and openly so. he was more surprised he caught feelings at all, and so quickly on the heels of his catastrophe with karen & the kids.
he's entirely machine save for some softer silicone portions (like his face - i love art where weps gettin his face squished), and what of him is implied to be organic a la the fact karens kids are also biologically his...its toon logic. like of course he can have kids. why couldnt he. of course his kids randomly spawn metal parts even though theyre like little organic animal crossing cats. why not. its toon logic. its fine.
i dont personally share the popular fanon belief that hes a shark, hes just kind of a metal dude to me unless calling all villains also decides to embrace this for him, but i DO think it kicks ass. rock on, shark wpnz believers
theres a fantastic fic ive read by a. i believe the a03 name is lapis01, that actually has him swallowing down a bowl of live bullets like its popcorn to reload his internal guns, and i fucking love that, i embrace that kind of nonsense.
hes a gamer. duh. but like, while hes into fps games he'd rather be out there shooting shit himself, so he finds it more fun to mod weapons and guns into games where theyre distinctly not a thing or the pickins are pretty slim, like in minecraft which gives you like. swords and potions. hes very well versed in game modding.
i have another big one that requires some reasoning & care, so buckle up, this is a small essay. wpnz has antisocial traits, and it's not his violent tendencies motivating that for me. theres a lot to suggest this textually in my humble opinion, and the way he behaves in silence of the cats in particular, how much of his personality and beliefs are underwritten by trauma & what he was programmed for - the way hes written in what little we get says so much. HES IMPORTANT TO ME, OKAY.
anyway. ahem. most emotions fleeting, so he's always seeking the next thrill, the next relationship (or rather, trying to return to the one that did thrill him, to bring that feeling back) - whatever is the next thing that'll make him feel something, otherwise he experiences all-encompassing, mind-numbing boredom
in guns and puzzles he mentions the last time he had a real thrill was with karen back when were doing hits together, & when he was actually getting along with his kids and them meeting him on his level to a degree once they developed powers. he never wanted to settle down in a way that didnt allow him to continue doing what brings him joy, or wouldnt allow karen to keep doing hits alongside him - itd feel like a death sentence for him, a resignation to that ever encroaching boredom for someone else's sake.
hes not empathetic at all, but when he's level-headed, he's great at reading others and adapting to the situation, whether thats trying to be comforting (gas station scene) or trying to get what he wants (coaxing karen into letting him spend time with the kids).
he's not often one to bond with others, but he isnt unwilling to try, and when he does get attached to someone, its ride or die until hes been walked away from. karen was his first genuine anything in that respect, the first person who really seemed to understand him because she was forged in similar fires as he was, and it wrecked what trust he was willing to put in another that she (in his perspective) abandoned him.
puzzles betraying him hit him all the harder, because not only was he just rejected a second time by karen, he sees aspects of himself in puzzles, those glimmers of excitement he brings. if this one fell out from under him, no ones gonna get him like puzzles was starting to, and that incited uncharacteristic hesitance in him each time he had the opportunity. reflection of the self in the other, etc.
these things go hand in hand with how sincere he is, too, he's a what you see is what you get kind of deal. he isnt interested in being anything but relentlessly himself, but he also has the emotional maturity to reflect on his actions in a productive enough way to know that he couldve done something differently to maintain or get what he wanted out of that connection or interaction.
he actually did want to bond with his family. it just didnt work out, through no fault of their own - he pushed his ways too hard, and it drove them away, and hes doing the best possible thing he can do afterward by just...staying away from them.
finally, ever since someone pointed out that not once does karen ever call wpnz by name, its been haunting me. like, she doesnt even call him wpnz, and he only ever directs others to "call [him] mr. wpnz". theres a blink and youll miss it detail in guns and puzzles too when hes being analyzed by the death cube, his profile shows "real name: ???" which fascinates me.
...karen knows what it is, and it was a meaningful show of their relationship that he told her what it is, and part of why she never calls him that is because her own trust was broken in that relationship, but she can't imagine calling him anything else at this point.
and its not his serial number; while he chose the spelling of wpnz later on, it still does tie into his manufactured designation. but he had a secret third name he picked himself. (my hc? its diego.)
areudirty
dededos
baratheonpilled
dailybridgerton
janainaart
prguitarman
