Taliesin's characters all suffer from competency syndrome.
What I mean by that is, they're good at convincing the other characters and the audience that they have things figured out. That they know how the world, or at least how their world, works. Percy thinks of himself as the only grown-up, even as he makes bad and self-destructive choices. Ashton laments 'has no one crimed!?' while not actually criming very well themselves. Molly declares that 'the truth is vicious,' and Caduceus insists honesty is usually the simplest and best strategy, while Taliesin shakes his head lovingly at what idiots they both are.
But because each is so firmly rooted in their beliefs, they come across as having their shit together, as being people that don't want or need guidance and advice. They handle themselves, and have private panic attacks along the way. Other characters rarely call them out on their BS. Percy literally had demonic smoke pouring out of him before Vex confronted him. Molly died, struck down by his own blood curse, before anyone could make him question himself.
Taliesin's character's have always been studies in hubris. He ends up taking some of the biggest risks in the game because his characters think they know what they're doing. Things often work out alright, but when they don't, as with Molly, the results can be catastrophic. Think back to Caduceus and Vokodo. Cad was convinced he’d figured out something about the entrance to Vokodo's layer. He swam close enough to test his theory, and got caught. If Fjord hadn't been close at hand, if Marisha hadn't rolled a natural 20 for Beau's search, the situation would have been dire. And yet Caduceus’ judgement was never really questioned. (Love that for him. Baby boy.)
And so I’m very interested to see what happens with Ashton. Because there is obvious, visible trauma there. And their outlook, the outlook that the word friend “implies a level of trust that isn’t necessarily healthy…” that outlook has to change at some point, by the very nature of the game. So far, the group has followed them, and no one has questioned them, not even Laudna But-how-did-they-die Laudna.
I wonder how long it’ll take the group to confront him, to challenge or question him, and what outside circumstances might push them to do so...
tangentwithtanner
dailybridgerton
gummygunk
prguitarman
