onyx

thimble: julien? 🥺 thank you 🥺

julien:

What's also interesting is the contrasting ways this abuse effected Occtis and Ethrand's behaviour. One of the very first phrases Alex uses to describe Occtis is that he is "small in presence", and that's be been borne out by how he plays him. Occtis is constantly trying to be as unobtrusively and inoffensive as possible in order to stay out of any potential lines of fire from other people, and indeed growing frustrated with doing this is part of why he blew up at Julien the way he did. One notable example of Occtis avoiding potential conflict with others is when Amadah and Ingrid arrive at Castle Torch and Occtis declines going out to meet them despite Thaisha insisting that druids are cool with him now; he's unsure and avoids a potential confrontation by avoiding the interaction entirely. While Ethrand also displays this behaviour when around Primus, see again the aforementioned scene in episode 4 as well as his quiet guilt in the Sundered Houses meeting where he did not say a single word, when around people he has some power over he completely turns this around, and revels in making people feel as small as his father makes him. We've only seen this directly in interactions he's had with Occtis (throwing rocks at his head when they were children; taunting him while murdering him), but I wouldn't doubt he's also like this around the peasantry and anyone else deemed "lesser", taking the hurt that has been inflicted on him and turning it on others.

Welcome to our fair city. I hope that you enjoy your stay.