Kris

Lui getting angry at William because he’s acting so stupid and playful amongst all the terrifying things. William constantly edging away from direct danger yet still complaining when it has to be his turn. William making jokes and puns at such a horrible time because he copes with it all in a way that just Isn’t Helpful to everyone else.

He’s not malicious about it, he’s just inherently playful (wisp moment) and more of an aid than a tank (wisp moment).

William looking to Lui’s eyes and seeing how overconfident he feels with the grimoire… I really love how often in upp (and in pd actually) he picks up on people lying or acting oddly (even when it’s not malicious!!! Lui upp2.4 and Tide in pd1 finale!!!)… William Could have said something to him, could have done more. William could have comforted Norah and Lui and he sort of tries by attempting to lighten the mood but they just don’t land.

In PD I always found it really interesting how most arcs with any focus on William often pushed him into doing cruel and violent things to either protect the people he cared about (Tide in pd1, David in grayscale, etc) and how William as a character is Built to excel when he has to take the dirtier road.

… and then upp2.4 came and killed me with hammers. Oh my god. I’ve always held the opinion that William’s had “what it takes” for grayscale wayyyy back in pd s1, but this finale proved it and it’s. Yum!!!! William is rarely angry, but when he’s blinded or desperate or behaving completely impulsively he can be SUCH a manipulative jerk. He lies to people, uses their insecurities against them, mocks them, and I fucked SO hard with him using Isaac’s dead family members against him in the moment when he was demanding the axe.

If William can justify what he’s doing to himself then nothing is off the table.

Wags my tail Yay yay!!!!

I made a post before about how different William is with upp and pd as groups and how as a superhero William is focused on being a better friend and. Man. Ever since the grimoire was introduced all I can think about is how his friendship with Ashe must have been impacted by his past. Weird kid with a fixation on occult who’s always the one to reign everyone in and so often dragged into the bits rather than starting them? Weird kid with a creepy book that ends up basically killing her?? Weird kid who’s friendly and timid and is often the most level headed of the group??? There’s no way in hell that in Overlords super secret base, all of pd injured and screwed, watching Ashe get consumed by the Trickster, William didn’t think of Lui. Lui, his childhood best fucking friend who he had a special pinky winky promise with that they’ve done since they were little kids.

There’s this UPP-exclusive William wisp mini character arc happening since UPP1 (that has really fun ties to PD) and I’ve only now sat down to think about it.

The best Base UPP William example of this is when Norah and William are at Mr Lacey’s house. William shows just how cowardly But curious he is, he doesn’t Want to Leave and he doesn’t want to go in Alone. When William and Norah are at the entrance, he makes sure she goes in first, that he’s closest to the door, that he’s in the Least amount of danger in comparison to Norah + how he basically drags her through the woods chasing a bunch of Bugs, getting both of them lost and incidentally forcing Norah to confront her parents much later than she wanted to. Another moment of this is in UPP1.2, where Norah’s incapacitated and William is thinking about going to the church without even thinking up of a plan on how he or Isaac would get out of there if the stryga Was in there. There’s this thoughtless recklessness to what he’s doing, causing unnecessary hurt to him but especially his friends and risking their safety.

Comparing That to how he is in UPP2 . Is a massive leap . Like in the newest episode, where he talks Lui out of doing a brash and reckless plan, comes up with how both They can signal to Norah that they’re out And how to figure out if anyone inside Mr Abrahams house from a Safe Distance. In UPP2.2, he sneaks into Mr Abrahams basement without causing a scene, managing to not alert the Danger when he leaves And comes back, only trying to do something really insane (smashing the glass into Mr Abrahams head) once he realizes Lui’s in danger, and even THEN, he manages to de-escalate and get all three of them out. Same episode, neither Norah or Lui can go out of the trees to save Isaac because they’re worried about Abraham having their names, and while William hesitates and panics, he Still chooses not to risk their safety and shouts at Isaac’s dad on his own. In UPP2.1, he doesn’t snoop through Abrahams things when they visit his house either. Also also, In the recent episode, he even tells Isaac that he wouldn’t blame him if he left this investigation to the rest of them and sat it out.

He’s the only one of the UPP to have never gotten properly isolated from the group, not while being in immediate danger. Back in UPP1.3 he was alone in the church for a bit, yes, but it was the One Time the Priest Wasn’t There to Hunt, because it was too preoccupied with Isaac. The closest we currently have to William being faced with something like this comparatively (Isaac and the Priest in UPP1 / Norah with Doctor Guerrero, her bout of madness / Norah with her dad in the forest / Isaac with his dad and Mr Abraham / Lui and Mr Abraham) is him and Lui’s grandma, but seeing as they know how to banish her and have all the tools necessary, it’s a lot less horrifying or dangerous compared to the rest of his friends.

This AND the fact Williams family is the only one that Canonically manage to Survive this. Norah has a major chance of loosing her dad, Isaac’s already lost HALF of his family, and Lui’s lost his grandma to the stryga. Like horrible things Definitely happen to the Wisp family, like Will’s mom getting sick with the Bug Disease in UPP1, but she survives it!!! Despite how shit Williams luck is he’s never suffered a bout of madness, and in the season where everyone’s family’s are in constant life threatening danger, the fact that the Wisps (for now at least LOL) are completely physically fine feels almost kind of odd.