//I can’t go into the Butters tag because all the top posts are just Anti-Butters and I’m a spiteful Butters fan, but for anyone saying his physical transformation was impossible, army boot camp before deploying can go up to/just about 5 months before they potentially do advanced training for specialized combat, and his athletic ability as a runner was pre-established in Dead Beat. JB wrote about how good Butters was at running way back when, with all this in mind. In fact, a lot of this was established with little asides and observations sprinkled over a lot of books.

Butters getting more athletic when he’s starting from a decent baseline with an athletic background (probably ran track/cross country as a sport) as opposed to a heavy set one, and learning enough martial arts not to die, is pretty doable I think. Is he going to actually beat Sanya or Micheal or Charity if they were genuinely trying hard? No. But is he going to hold his own? Yes. And is he smart enough to make up the difference? Yes yes.

Also... Shiro was like. 70-80 when he died, and still kicking ass. So. Probably the Spoilers Ahead: 

swords also physically imbue the carrier, kind of like the Denarius do, but the difference between the swords/coins is ultimately choice. The being in the sword imbues the wielder with a certain power if they are the right aptitude, and if they break the very set terms (ie, wielding without faith in Fidelacchius’s case, or turning a blade to an enemy seeking mercy) then the sword just switches off rather than risking becoming a Fallen. They have a very tight set of rules. So between the training and the sword bolstering Butters’s ability, it makes sense to me that he was able to keep up like he did for a night.

... I really need to like. Write out my essay on how Butters’s arc was a Luke Skywalker parallel with the Hero’s Journey, and why it makes sense for him to get the sword because of Murphy’s and Charity’s pre-established character traits, but eh.

Also don’t even @ me about the Andi and Marci thing. It’s not my ship by any means, but they’re both in their thirties and werewolves and deserve a bit of frickin’ autonomy rather than ‘ew Butters is an old man clearly he pressured them.’ Like no, Andi would remove anyone’s hand with her teeth if they tried to pressure her or anyone she loved. And obviously they had a lot of pre-friendship build up when he helped her study her medical school and played Arcanos. Like. Please. I may not like the ship, but it’s an example of a healthy polycule/triad and we deserve that in fiction.

And don’t @ me either about that White Knight thing, Harry was more than creepy about Molly for a Lot Fucking More than one scene, and Thomas started dating the mentally ill Justine when she was sixteen. Butters was creeped out and upset he had a reaction to it.

And it’s not like Butters probably isn’t going to die to fucking Nicodemus one day and satisfy most of the fandom’s desire to see him dead (like Butters hasn’t been one of the most compassionate and caring and selfless fucking people in the entirety of the book series). Like thematically yeah it’d have made sense for him to get killed, but. Letting him become a Knight and atone for his fuck ups and do some good in the world as an active player and not a ‘look out/go to healer guy’ isn’t necessarily a bad thing. And as much as I hate to say it, Karrin losing her plot armor wasn’t necessarily a bad thing either (not touching Battlegrounds, obvs. Just looking at Skin Game).