i never understood ppl claiming percy has never suffered the consequences of his loyalty. you're talking about percy "i know the prophecy said my friend would betray me but these are my friends they wouldn't betray me" jackson, who walked into a remote part of the forest with luke and almost died in book one. you're talking about percy "kronos told me point-blank there was a traitor but i can't imagine any of these ppl betraying me" jackson, who decided to stop looking for the traitor and moved on. you're talking about percy "nico is acting suspicious and very clearly hiding something from me but he's my friend and i trust him" jackson, who walked into nico's very obvious set up and almost got himself held hostage during the titan war. percy is so loyal that he cannot fathom betrayal until it's happening, and it has nearly killed him multiple times.
ANOTHER SKETCH DUMP! Featuring more of me playing with lineless art. Batman reborn era trio (dick, damian and steph) I miss you...when will you return from war. Also featuring Steph designs bc I've seen ppl dissatisfied w/ her current look, some good mom Talia, and Jason Todd poetry club. Duke is confused not that Jason would start a poetry club but that he'd have such mid poetry opinions. (ID in Alt)
Malleus is literally contender for most pitiful character in twst... Dead parents (mandatory for male leads, I fear), grandmother who couldn't bring herself to love him enough to hatch him herself, foster father who he can't even say I love you to because of their difference in status, foster brother/s who are mortal and will die before he physically turns 30, everybody dislikes him because his own mom accidentally cursed him, his first organically-met friend and potential love interest wants to go home to their own world and leave him behind, and if he chooses not to marry and have kids he's doomed to overwork until he either dies of loneliness or everyone else dies so he wouldn't have anyone to rule over anymore-- whichever comes first.
But even through all the shit the world's putting him through, he's still always so very grateful for any morsel of affection he does receive. Despite having all the reasons to be permanently afflicted with sad boy syndrome, he'd still grin and laugh the widest he could with anyone willing to share some with him. He wouldn't understand jokes and you may have to explain it to him, but he will laugh the moment he realizes you're being silly for him. He will adore that cheap bracelet you made for home economics. He will finish and love that plain omelette you made for him.
He's someone larger than life itself, but he's also someone who thinks little moments and memories and the people who gave them to him are more precious than even his very life. And he is genuinely thankful for every single one of them.
neil hilborn // text post – @rebeccabinch // naudline pierre – through the clouds, 2020 // flintcoded, 08 –15 – 21 // the first bad man – miranda july // sade alandria zabala // georges bataille // @tristamateer // mess is mine – vance joy // @softhe4rted , i will – mitski // taylor jenkins reid, the seven husbands of evelyn hugo //georges bataille – the dead Man //
Riordan: And the grand lesson that Percy needed to learn over the course of hoo, the culmination of his character arc of this series, the moment where the fate of the world hangs in the balance because of a single decision he has to make... is realizing when he needs to take a step back :)
it's not a choice on his part. he'd love for a conversation to be short and respectful, so he wouldn't stand out, wouldn't be interesting, and the gods would leave him alone. but percy's fatal flaw is personal loyalty, and the wars he's involved in are all hurting the people he loves. percy is incapable of respecting the idea of a war that could injure or harm or kill his friends and family.
the risk that something horrible could happen to them outweighs anything else, any other thought or emotion. so when he's confronted with the embodiment of war? when he meets ares, with his bloodlust and superiority complex and his ego?
it is impossible for him to be respectful. it is impossible for him to be polite. he is incapable of taking any other attitude. war is hell. war is death, and destruction, and desperation, and despair, and Percy will not allow war to hurt his people. Percy will plant himself directly in harm’s way to save his friends and family every time, and every time his perception of war will change. every time, he will think surely, this is the worst the world has to offer. surely, things can only get better from here, and every time, every goddamn time, he’s wrong. it can get worse, it will get worse, and Percy will be stuck in the middle of it, acting as a shield and a sword.
“Shadowheart is so racist!” Idk man, her racism is pretty mild considering she was raised and brainwashed by an evil cult. And she gets over it. She learns. Also, she just specifically hates Lae’zel.
When I played as a Githyanki she was suspicious of me for a day or two. Then she told me that though she was skeptical of me at first, I’m actually pretty cool and she’s glad to be traveling with me. This is all well before she settled her differences with Lae’zel. And of course she doesn’t like Lae’zel at first. Lae’zel is a mirror of blind faith shining back at her in the form of an alien being she was specifically taught to fear.
Meanwhile Astarion is out here mouthing off about the Gur and gnomes and never seems to learn better by the end of the game. But I don’t see people bring that up the same way they bring up Shadowheart.
It really doesn’t surprise me that a women who’s whole life (at least what she can remember of it) has been driven by fear so she could easily do Shar’s bidding would turn out racist. Of course Shar would want to dehumanize the very people she sent Shadowheart to steal from. Caring about their lives would compromise the mission.
Some of you treat video game characters the way you would treat real people and it’s kinda weird. Hardline first impressions, blocking and avoiding people the moment they do anything problematic, etc. This is your opportunity to safely learn about and empathize with people you might not normally and I think its a shame if your instinct is to go “Lae’zel was mean so I killed her” or “Astarion’s an evil little shit, so I turned him in.”
Shadowheart is a wonderful example of what blind faith in a religious organization can do to a person, and that includes her racism. Which, again, she grows out of from interacting with people (including gith) outside of her cult. That’s how it works in the real world too, you guys.
you know what i am so glad that exu calamity gave us insight into vespin chloras's reasoning and everything because now i can confidently say that the guy who kicked off the point in exandria's history that killed 2/3 of the population and fundamentally changed the way the gods interact with the world had more understandable reasoning than ludinus da'leth does.