no one gafs but like the jason is boring argument genuinely pisses me off. like yeah when i first read HoO at like 11 i was all booo not my protagonist booo he has no personality booo he's a blank slate but after reading the burning maze a year or two later i was sad when he died because i had only just realized how much he contributed to the series. JASON BEING "BORING" WAS LITERALLY THE POINT. mf was raised by WOLVES. he'd been at camp jupiter p much his whole life and a strict rule follower because that's all he's known. he's supposed to be the antithesis of percy, the entire point of jason was learning how to be human in a sense. jason was told how to act and feel his entire life and his character arc is learning that it's okay to not be perfect. he had been living out this robotic life of things he's supposed to do because of what his lineage is and what that's supposed to mean for someone like him. jason being able to choose is the thing that makes his so called blank slate character interesting, he's no longer a blank slate but a /person/ with feelings and emotions. like genuinely why do you think it's JASON who tells apollo to "REMEMBER WHAT ITS LIKE TO BE HUMAN" if/when he gets back to olympus.
I made the sides into doors from Encanto
This took a literal week but it was fun doing them!
Thank you @ros_poz2 for helping me with some of the designs :)
Also, Happy New Year!!! :D
I have this headcanon that Daring and Briar are that one purely platonic duo where they bond over being too pretty for this world. They’ll never admit it or say it out loud cause they know its rude but every now and then they’ll go to a coffee shop together and silently judge people together. Like they’ll be eyeing someone’s outfit and silently eye each other as if to say “we’re in agreement when I say that skirt and pair boots are just not it together right?” “Oh yeah absolutely!” They 100% help each other take pictures for each other’s instagram too.
Also, you CANNOT convince me that they dont bond over being the oldest sibling. Look, it seem like siblings in the world of ever after are pretty rare in general (let alone having more than one sibling), so you know damn well that when someone brings up the topic of siblings and almost everyone in the room is like “can’t relate”, the two will simultaneously be like “lol I can” and then just go off about how as the oldest sibling, its easy to love your younger sibling and yet find them the most annoying person in the world at the same time.
And to top it off I absolutely love the idea that after the events of Epic winter, Briar started giving Daring advice on how to inpress Rosabella. Like the day before Daring went to meet Rosabella’s parents, he was relentlessly freaking out. Being Rosabella’s cousin, Briar was just there like “Dude…Relax! Everyone in my family is super chill. Look, I know your parents expect alot from you, but My Aunt and Uncle are not like that. They dont care who Rosabella is dating so as long as they’re a good person. You dont have to try so hard to impress them….If anything they’re gonna find it awkward when they catch you trying too hard to impress them”.
darling n daring moment :] i’m sad her and her brothers didn’t get many scenes together, they’re such a cute family
Sean: As ya best friend...
Arthur: You're not my best friend, Charles is my best fri-
Sean: AS YOUR BEST FRIEND
I’m bored in psychology so here are some more daring/ramona/rosabella headcannons:
They are all super overprotective, if you insult one of them you insult all of them
Daring calls them rosie and mona and refers to them as ‘his girls’
Daring and ramona go to protests with rosabella to support her.
Rosabella and ramona also go to darings bookball games to cheer him and cerise on
Fiyero’s characterisation relies a lot on the actors that portray him, particularly in Act I. Bearing in mind the limited stage time, the emphasis on lines such as ‘life’s more painless for the brainless’ and ‘those who don’t try never look foolish’ in Dancing Through Life is, at least to me, crucial in conveying the fact that despite his seemingly perfect life, he is honestly unhappy. I think the same goes for 'well, I’ll say this, she doesn’t give a twig what anyone else thinks’ - he says it jokingly, a throwaway comment on the school outcast, but he admires her for being strong enough to stand on her own two feet without using a facade as a crutch, for fashioning her own weapons out of insults and determination and aloof sarcasm to fight back against the endless harassment, and is a little jealous, too. He’s not brave enough to weather the storm on his own; he cares too much what people think of him, even though it’s damaging.
And he kind of has to. He’s a Prince, after all, and the level of scrutiny paid to royals is ridiculous, especially here in Britain. For example, Kate was recently in the news for - shock horror - getting stuck in a traffic jam, on her way to picking George up from school. Also hitting major newspapers were Charles and Camilla’s bedrooms, William’s new haircut, and the royal mince pie recipe. Truly brilliant journalism, right?
Fiyero was raised a royal, which in my mind is part of the reason why he acted out. Being born into such a huge responsibility would never be easy, especially if he didn’t want to rule in the first place, and this was part of his life over which he had some control. He didn’t ask to be in this position, and he probably would’ve been expected to act as an adult at a young age. The responsibilities would have smothered him, leaving him to search for an escape.
(This happens with celebrities in real life, even teenagers, and more so with the rise of callout culture.)
Being royalty would’ve distanced him from most people his age, and there would’ve been the inevitable gold-diggers and sellouts, whether they were friends or lovers. He grew up ironically lonely. As well as royalty, he was also raised as a politician, well-versed in the arts of negotiation, lying, and masking true emotions. He was never able to truly be himself, to let go of formalities or expectations. His 'scandalacious reputation’ preceded him like a red carpet, and with money, alcohol, parties, and the plethora of women at his beck and call, a great deal of people would’ve expected him to love the attention it gave him - and wouldn’t have understood in the slightest if he said it was incredibly stifling, that he hasn’t eaten a vegetable in a year, that he’d really like to sit down and read a book or finish that sketch he started a long while ago. It was a vicious cycle, one he would break if only he knew how.
It’s also likely that as the reigning monarchs - that aren’t the figureheads the British Royal Family have become through the years - his parents would have had a staggering amount of duties and engagements, which could’ve distanced them from their son whether they meant it to or not. In times of tragedy, of insecurity, of dramatic upheaval, where would Fiyero turn?
As I said, he’s not as strong as Elphaba in that he can’t just not care what people think of him, and after flunking out of numerous schools, his parents would’ve been disappointed in him, to say the least. They would have doubted his ability to rule, and after a while, so would he. He would look at the complete mess he’d made of his life, and wonder how the fuck he could get it together enough to lead an entire country. He believed he was too far gone to be saved, to break the endless chain. He’s adored by the public, and it’s a victory, even if the victory is hollow.
Royal status doesn’t mean he had the best life. Money doesn’t mean he had all he could ever want. Power doesn’t mean he had a voice that can be heard. After all, a comfortable life doesn’t provide immunity from tragedy, from strife, from the trials and tribulations that others face. A comfortable life can still be empty.
These little glimpses into his true feelings and personality don’t have to be glaringly obvious - to be honest, they’re better when partially concealed, as if the facade slipped for a mere few seconds before settling back into place. Over the course of the musical, they grow more and more obvious, until everything is on the line and the facade finally falls to the floor.
I think part of the reason that he falls for Elphaba is that she can see through this facade like it’s made of glass - and what’s more, she accepts who he is underneath. She knows he isn’t happy with his life, she knows he’s more than what he pretends to be, and isn’t afraid to tell him so. Besides that, she knows what it’s like to be lonely, to have to pretend like you don’t care. To have to protect yourself from falling apart, if not for yourself then for the sake of others. Over the years, she hardened herself to the tirades of harassment, of bullying, of abuse, but her heart isn’t made of stone. She has green skin; the remarks and actions from others about that wouldn’t have slid like water from a duck’s back.
There was a reason why Elphaba’s famous line of ‘no, you’re not, or you wouldn’t be so unhappy’ was emphasised. That exchange in the Lion cub scene is basically Fiyero trying to prove to both Elphaba and himself that he is nothing more than what meets the eye, that life is truly nothing more than parties and sex and drinking. His 'genuinely self-absorbed and deeply shallow’ line is a very obvious lie, and Elphaba doesn’t hesitate to call him out on it. Underneath the light, funny words, he’s clearly tired of keeping up the pretense, but somehow Elphaba is the only one to have seen through it, and he’s taken off guard. She’s the only one that cares enough to do so.
Even later, in Act II, he couldn’t let down the facade. He was trapped in a gilded cage, bound by the expectations of the intolerant, cruel, and manipulative society in which he lived, used as a pawn by Morrible, and made the leader of an organisation whose primary aim was to capture the woman he was in love with and kill her - or worse. Definitely a lot worse. What’s more, he had to do it with a smile on his face. He wasn’t happy - not when he was painting a picture of himself as the perfect prince, and not when he was on the balcony in Thank Goodness - but he had to solidify his old facade, the very one that Elphaba saw though without even trying, and make it a reality. If anyone noticed the cracks in the foundation, then there would be serious consequences.
It’s not until the pivotal Throne Room scene that Fiyero is at long last able to stop pretending. Though perhaps able is the wrong word; it’s not like he’s left with an easy option to take. He’s presented with an inevitably disastrous situation - and he follows his heart, does what he knows is right, even against the imminent backlash. He could’ve pretended that he didn’t remember Elphaba, that he never had feelings for her, that he believed that she was wicked - even if he broke both of their hearts in the process. Not to mention that if he did, it’s unlikely Elphaba would’ve lived.
But he didn’t, and breaking years of metaphorical shackles can’t have been easy, especially with so much at stake. He found the strength to not care what the public thinks, to find this strength and solace in the woman he loves. In As Long As You’re Mine he looks so much more comfortable than he ever did before, thrown under the spotlight with every move scrutinised. The difference from Thank Goodness, where he was obviously uncomfortable and unhappy, is massive. The line 'you’ve got me seeing through different eyes’ is more than loving her past her non-conventional beauty, but that she’s opened his eyes to a new way of living. He doesn’t have to put his happiness last, he doesn’t have to pretend, he doesn’t have to live for everyone except himself. For the first time, he’s allowed to be Fiyero, rather than His Royal Highness Prince Fiyero Tigelaar, or the arm candy of Glinda the Good.
It hurts him to see Elphaba in pain, and hurts him to have to let her go again. So he doesn’t. He doesn’t, and ends up saving her life. Somehow, I think he’s happier with his sacrifice in the cornfield scene than he ever was in the Emerald Palace. He did what he knew was right, even while knowing that he gave his life to do so. Arguably, this is Fiyero’s moment of glory; the point where he shines brighter than the moonlight from the previous scene. Had Elphaba been caught, it would’ve been game over - for everyone. It would’ve dealt a massive blow to the Animals and the Revolution as a whole, it would’ve ensured Morrible remained the puppet-master of Oz, and it would’ve had a disastrous effect on both Glinda and Fiyero. In sacrificing himself, he saved Elphaba, and as a result, saved the Revolution and the hope it inspired.
He was no longer afraid to stand against the dissent of those he used to bend over backwards to keep happy, and the old facade, having been dropped in the Throne Room, was never replaced.
The mirroring of the 'it’s not lying, it’s looking at things another way’ exchange in the Finale is very important to me (as is the first appearance of said exchange, in all honesty), and marks a new era in their lives, one where they can learn to be themselves, to not put on a show for the sake of someone else.
At last, they were unlimited.
Jason who is super empathic to his friends and not ever to himself.
Leo could have a cut and he'd be like oh no! I need to get you help! And is super anxious about it.
Meanwhile, Jason is actively bleeding out in every direction and doesn't feel any of it. Leo is a person who deserves good things, and Jason is a soldier who has to endure pain to help people.
My friends and I used to do this thing where we'd dress up on a theme and go do something totally normal.
We dressed up as pirates and went bowling.
We dressed as vikings and went to the grocery store. The security guard told us we had to move our longship because it was illegally parked.
We dressed as Romans and went to Blockbuster. The staff chanted, "toga! Toga! Toga!" at us.
We dressed up all steampunk and went to the museum. Tourists kept taking our picture.
Royals Legacy Day
I r63d thebgc as promised plus Duchess.