more abt this pls!: https://at.tumblr.com/aroaceleovaldez/705000157041852416/9ruvlr0xn2f9
(Post in question - [x])
Okay, consider:
Hera succeeds in roasting baby Leo in the fireplace like a demigod glazed ham, and he becomes immortal. Leo, with his horrible self-esteem issues, obviously tries to hide this. He rejects his immortality and powers as much as he can, blaming them in equal parts for what happened to his mother. He reigns in his immortality with careful precision - don’t smite bullies, don’t light them on fire, don’t take any risks. He gets through his first quest and to the Seven being gathered with people only finding out about his pyrokinesis. One out of two ain’t bad.
Percy’s Curse of Achilles isn’t washed away by the Little Tiber, and Hera/Juno is generous enough to gift him the Nemean lion pelt back for while he’s wandering aimlessly around California as a little extra insurance to cover his Achilles heel (and since he helped kill it and retrieve its pelt in the first place). The Romans are greeted by a teenager who looks like a god carrying an old lady and wearing the most ridiculous ugly fluffy coat they’ve ever seen on top of mysteriously tattered clothes, despite him and the ugly coat looking otherwise wholly intact. He then proceeds to control the Little Tiber, slay two gorgons, the old lady turns out to be Juno, and his ugly coat turns into a lion’s pelt. His lion’s pelt is bulletproof. He is bulletproof. The Romans are suddenly not sure if Percy’s pillowpet is also bulletproof. Octavian answers that for them. Everything about him screams the epitome of an ancient hero.
Jason is the son of two gods. One through adoption, yes, but belief is a powerful thing. And when all of Camp Jupiter’s occupants eye him with the knowledge of his true parents - not his assigned caretakers in New Rome - rumors spread. They say he brings storm and thunder, leadership and law thanks to Jupiter. They say he can control the winds and fly, thanks to Juno. They say he was nursed by the she-wolf Lupa, just like Romulus. That he is the gods’ chosen, their hero of Rome. That he alone slayed a Titan with his own fists, performed the spolia opima rites with his spoils of war from Krios and became praetor. That he alone ended the Titan War. They say he bleeds ichor. Eventually it becomes true.
Now, the three of them are stuck on a ship together. For months. Percy and Jason are eyeing each other like when you try to push two magnets together. Everyone is wondering how this will go - Percy, seemingly indestructible, and Jason, who everyone believed to be a young god so much that he became one. It feels like if they clash everything might explode. Frank is a little peeved that he’s the one who got nerfed with a piece of firewood for being OP when he’s on a ship with what appears to be basically two literally indestructible teenagers. The two are almost comically picture perfect demigods. They literally can’t be injured. Staring at Jason too long makes their eyes hurt, and standing too close to him makes their hair stand on end. Weapons bounce off of and break against Percy like they’re nothing. He casually wears around a magic lion’s pelt, of a magic lion that he personally had slain! Every time they butt heads the skies and oceans roar.
And then, Leo gets injured in battle. He can’t hide it fast enough; he bleeds gold.
Everyone has a lot of questions.
(Frank is more peeved that it was actually three indestructible teenagers.)
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everybody stay with me im shifting back into speculation & analyzing mode, this time about everybody's favorite pair of besties. ill put this under the cut for everyone's sakes
and please, take all of this with a Hefty grain of salt.
so ive been... thinking about a thing. a maybe-possibility. which if this has some merit, the part of me that loves characters having a good time and feeling good feels is screaming in fear. but the louder part of me that loves angst and hurting characters is rubbing its little fly hands together.
short version: i think Barnaby is going to emotionally distance from Wally, if not outright grow to resent him. maybe temporarily, maybe not.
full version: *cracks knuckles* strap in folks. so.
first of all, an entire chunk of Barnaby's bio is dedicated to his character relation to Wally. everyone else only has one-off lines dedicated to their relationships to other neighbors - even Frank & Julie just have single sentences about each other (note that they're described as "partnered with" and "depicted with" respectively. more on that soon). even Wally's bio has his Barnaby mention tacked onto the end of his first paragraph instead of being its own dedicated section
and then there's their character designs - their bios explicitly point out that they share characteristics; color schemes, hearts on their soles, similar outfits.
they were made to be best friends. literally. this quote is what made me start turning this theory over in my mind (sourced from @ /theneighborhoodwatch's collected & absolutely fascinating livestream trivia)
it appears that Barnaby literally did not have a say in whether or not he and Wally are friends. their bios even say "illustrated pages note that they were best friends multiple times." they have to be best friends.
which brings us back to Frank & Julie. they briefly reference each other in their bios, but they aren't described as best friends. it's incredibly likely that they were meant to be a romantic couple - i briefly covered that theory in this post (dont read the first one i was going insane) but they managed to avoid that. Frank and Julie defied the script and chose to be best friends instead.
and then in the trivia document a few more character relationships are briefly touched on, like how Howdy considers Barnaby a close friend, and Sally considers either Barnaby or Poppy as her closest friend, etc.
everyone else seems to be choosing who they're close with. they're forming their own opinions and dynamics and relationships. & its interesting that Barnaby is stated for both of these - as if implying that he may return the friendship feelings, or at the very least he's developed enough of a relationship with them to earn their affection
Barnaby and Wally... i doubt they ever got that. they were best friends from the start, no development, no choice. it's written into them.
and then there's how their relationship has been portrayed so far. i believe i saw an ask where Clown stated that Barnaby is very polite to Wally, which struck me as odd. have you ever had a polite relationship to your best friend? have you ever seen best friends be polite? i'd be surprised!
best friends mess with each other! they tease and rib and roast! what is a best friend for if not mutual tomfuckery?! jesting around? playfully pushing boundaries? a Polite best friendship... that's a straight up oxymoron. no such thing. that sounds boring and exhausting.
not only that, but the fact that Barnaby is often used for Wally's painting segments, and is the go-to guy for teaching Wally something new, is kind of concerning. it gives me the vibe that a big part of Barnaby's literal reason for existing is to be Wally's friend & guide.
which would make the fact of him being described as polite to Wally make sense. of course he's not going to push their relationship or try to deepen it - he's forming his own dynamics with the other neighbors. with Wally... it's already established. that is how they are with each other. that is what they are to each other.
and it's not like Wally can be the one to introduce nuances. i don't mean that as a slight or anything - he's just the way he's been described and the things stated about him that make me think that he wouldn't really... know how to? it just wouldn't occur to him. he probably thinks his and Barnaby's relationship is what a best friendship is and is how it should be.
but they have to hang out. they have to refer to each other as best friends. and while i believe that Wally does wholeheartedly think that they're best friends, close as can be... i doubt Barnaby feels the same. like - yes, he probably does care about Wally. everybody likes Wally.
but it's gotta be frustrating for Barnaby, especially as time goes on and he becomes more himself as a person over just being a character playing a part. it probably stunts his relationship growth with others, since his ~best friend spot~ is already taken and who would want to encroach on that? especially since its taken by Wally mcfuckin Darling?
their friendship might become less of a role and more of a responsibility. Barnaby might grow to feel obligated to stick with Wally as his "best friend". someone invites Barnaby to hang out and/or help with something? sorry, he has to pose for Wally's painting. Barnaby is trying to do his own thing? sorry, Wally is knocking on the door and asking for help with something.
i wonder if Barnaby ever hopes that Wally will go to someone else, or feels relief when he does. and then does he feel irritation/guilt over that denied hope or that granted relief? then does he get angry at himself for those emotions?
how would this effect how he treats Wally and acts around him? this confusing muddle of emotions and this strange growing resentment for his painfully earnest friend who only ever means well, if he means at all.
it makes me curious whether or not this theory has merit. and how this could come to a head. what would Barnaby, in this situation, do if/when he discovers that they're puppets on a set, and he's literally written to be Wally's bestie while everyone else changed their scripts and chose their own relationships.
personally, i don't think he'd be happy, and i doubt he'd handle it well.
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imagine being someone at new rome university and not knowing percy is the same guy as “percy jackson, son of poseidon, two-time hero of olympus, former praetor” because the thought doesn’t even cross your mind. like… he’s percy. he’s a total frat boy. on a normal night, he walks into a party, refers to everyone as bro or dude, socializes with every living (and not-living) person in the room, makes at least 50 sarcastic comments, plays 12 rounds of beer pong, drinks way too much, and then skates around campus on his skateboard yelling “I LOVE NEW YORK” (which makes no sense, because they’re in california) until someone calls his girlfriend to come get him.
and then one day there’s an attack, and frat boy percy is all of a sudden a fighting machine. he’s yelling battle cries alongside the praetors frank zhang and hazel levesque as they lead everyone into battle. (why is he with the praetors? and why…. why in the world do the praetors seem to be following his lead?) his sword slashes through armies of monsters faster than you’ve ever seen. he’s controlling the entire river surrounding the camp, creating huge waves as tall as skyscrapers that crash down all around him, wiping out monsters and causing mass destruction to his enemies’ ranks. the sky is suddenly dark above you, ice-cold water droplets are slashing through the air, and the wind is blowing so aggressively that it’s making it hard to stand up steadily. because he’s somehow created a hurricane.
and he looks terrifying. you can feel the power radiating off of him. he’s like a god. or maybe a monster. it’s hard to tell. you’re a little scared of him, to be honest. but also in total awe, because it’s extraordinary. he’s extraordinary.
frat boy percy is not who you thought he was.
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