#But when someone does seem to be receptive to his overtures of friendship

[aphel1on]

another thing i love about laios:

HE IS GENUINELY A REALLY GOOD LEADER!!

despite struggling with the finer points of socializing, he has all the qualities necessary to be a good leader.

(i refer to the manga a lot in this post as someone who's read most of the manga at this point, but i avoided any specific spoilers)

He cares about all his teammates' well-being

He is extremely level-headed in a crisis

He is excellent at strategizing (within his areas of expertise; in the manga someone eventually points out he's pretty much useless at fighting other humans, lol)

If a plan fails, he is immediately thinking up a fallback plan - he doesn't give up

He is acutely aware of his teammates' strength and weaknesses, and accurately assigns them tasks suited to them in times of need.

He is perhaps not innately a 'leader-type'; he's fine deferring to the rest of the party most of the time, even when he doesn't understand why. (Just going along with the blindfold in the sauna for example, lol.) He was ready to head back into the dungeon by himself before Chilchuck and Marcille volunteered to come along. He doesn't think of himself as particularly smart or special. And when the party meets others (such as the old gnome couple) they don't tend to assume Laios is the leader.

But he has an unwavering vision (during the story it's rescuing Falin), and, you see it again and again: when they enter difficult combat, or any time things fall apart and everyone is panicking, Laios steps up and takes charge. His calmness helps everyone else calm down, and they generally follow his lead. They intuitively look to him in a crisis, to the point they're shocked the few times he doesn't have any ideas.

It kind of ties into another thought I have; he is repeatedly seen as "having no interest in other people" by other characters, but this isn't really true! He struggles to understand people and he is aware that they struggle to understand him. This leads to him mostly focusing on the things he IS good at understanding, such as monsters. But he genuinely makes a big effort to understand the people he cares about. In the manga, there are times you see him think deeply about his friends' struggles and motivations. For much of the early arcs, he understands Chilchuck better than Marcille or Senshi do. He and Marcille don't get each other that well at the start of the story, but by the end they have a very strong reciprocal friendship.

I could go on about it honestly but this post is already very long. Tl;dr laios one of the characters of all time to me and i think people should appreciate his leadership skills more!!

[archivesdiveronarpg]

Congratulations, VIC! You’ve been accepted for the role of BENVOLIO. This was an incredibly difficult decision for me to make because both apps we received for Benvolio were amazing. But they both captured such different sides of him, that my heart was torn in two. There is a certain tragedy, though, that I had never really thought of when it came to Benvolio. He’s affected by the war in a way that no other character is -- and Vic, you brought that vision up so vividly that I felt as if I couldn’t deny you. I cannot wait for what Benvolio will bring to the table. Welcome to Diverona!  Please read over the checklist and send in your blog within 24 hours.

                                                                            WELCOME TO THE MOB.

Out of Character

Alias | Vic

Age | 18

Preferred Pronouns | They/them

Activity Level | I’m rather busy Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Fridays, but am freer on the other days of the week! My activity level’s probably at an 8/10.

Timezone | EST, most of the time- CST during breaks.

In Character

Character | Benvolio ; Bellamy Santo Domingo

What drew you to this character? | In the play, Benvolio was coincidentally present for many of the conflicts between the Montagues and the Capulets, and he tries to diffuse most of the fights he encounters. He’s a peacemaker and brutally honest in recounting various situations, rather than being even the slightest bit biased to his own side. His name literally means ‘good will’, but I wanna’ see him written as something other than a typical doormat character (his yearning for peace doesn’t make a difference in the end), as he’s kinda’ portrayed as the classic nice guy in the play. I really want to play a man who’s stuck between the shackles of filial piety and loyalty to his family and his own dreams and desires. Essentially, he’s a martyr-type character; perhaps not the kinda’ martyr where he dies for the cause, but he gave up his freedom and dreams in order to serve the family and that’s also a kind of slow death. I see him as a gentle person; in any situation he’d first attempt to work things out by talking, but he’s also not regretful for resorting to violence if the other party tries to harm those he considers family. He’s a tragic character, but he also doesn’t seem to show it. He’d gladly give up everything for his family, but what happens when the desires of the famiglia are in conflict with his own morality?

What is a future plot idea you have in mind for the character? |  I’d like to see Benvolio struggling between what is right and what is easy. (Perhaps not even he knows which is which.) He deeply values his family and the bonds that he creates with other people, but he’s not a mindless soldier: his desires for flight and peace are deeply rooted into him. Where other people might’ve become demons and conquerors when faced with violence at such a young age, he grew up to be a pacifist. However, given the nature of his upbringing, I’d like to think that he wouldn’t shy away from violence either, when the situation calls for it. There’s this heavy burden on his shoulders, multiplied by each person he’s ever killed. Perhaps he views death as a mercy, and perhaps he yearns for something <i>more</i> than just mindless violence.

I. Bellamy might look upon the Three Witches of Verona with something that’s less akin to awe than it is to envy and wonder; they don’t <i>need</i> to fight, and that’s something he’s always hungered for. Let none say that Bellamy isn’t ambitious, that avarice and want hasn’t been bred into him, for he <i>burns</i> for the possibility of peace. The Witches are held above the petty fights of the Capulets and Montagues; they’re the closest thing to peace he knows. I’d like to see him seeking them out, with full knowledge that they might only deign to toy with him, but wanting to secure an alliance with them nevertheless. Not for their power, for though his words are silken and soothing, he’s not a manipulative person in such a way. (sometimes he fears for the day when he must use his words in a more poisonous fashion.) He simply would like to know how they view peace and how they achieved such a goal. Perhaps he desires friends who he doesn’t need to speak of war to. It’s a far-fetched dream, he knows, but he’d undertake the self-assigned mission nevertheless. It would be in secret, for if he succeeds, he would not want to be torn in half by duties and freedom again. (when has want of friendship become a piece to be played?)

II. Roman’s his Boss, and any other person’d probably try and use that brotherly bond between them for their own gain. Bellamy, however, may only hint at his desire for Roman to be more peaceable in his dealings with the Capulets; said family might think it to be a weakness, and Bellamy has no desire to make things even harder for Roman. On his days off, he might try and make friendly acquaintances with neutral players, or perhaps even other famiglia members who’re more receptive to cordial overtures. What happens if he has to fight them, though?

III. I see Bellamy as an existentialist, and thus as a student of that particular school of thought, he believes that “…the individual can choose. He is inevitably committed in a situation or a certain social and historic context. But in any event, we undertake, and we engage our responsibility because our freedom is total. Even the one who refuses to act, or to undertake, chooses. His retreat, his “abstention” are still forms of actions, or choices. The man doesn’t escape his freedom, and his responsibilities. ‘’The man is condemned to be free”, which can seem paradoxical”. I want to see him struggle in killing someone; he returned to Verona, the bloody cesspool, after four years of freedom and travel. Inevitably, he cannot blame the act of killing a person on another circumstance or person; it will all fall upon his shoulders. I want to see him struggle with knowing full well that he ended a life- and that in choosing to end a life, he also snuffed out a being of infinite potential. Death is final, and how would he deal with that?

In Depth

The following THREE questions must be answered in-character, and in para form (quotations, actions written out if applicable, etc). There is no minimum or maximum limit for your response - simply answer as you would were you playing the character.

What is your favorite place in Verona?

Heavy lashes feather across the slant of his eyes as the lounging male allows a slow breath to fill his lungs. There is a small smile playing around the corner of Bellamy’s mouth, even as his gaze cuts through dark cillia at an angle. His head tilts just the slightest bit, and lightly chapped lips part in order to let a thoughtful tenor ripple through the air. “I suppose it’s sitting on the Castelvecchio Bridge,” he muses, dark irises absently laced with self-directed amusement. “It’s,” a pause as he searches for words, “freeing, in a sense.”

Each syllable is carefully moulded from his mouth, and the curve of his laugh is tucked underneath reserved mirth. “The air’s fresh, the water’s clear, and on good days, you can see fish flicking their tails at your reflection. Hardly anyone passes by, much less sits there like I do, and I find it fairly relaxing. There’s something about watching fish and water, something timeless and beautiful about the bridge between two warring sides.” Here, the intent of his gaze affixes upon the questioner, firmly present in a way that he hadn’t been while recounting. “As long as that bridge is standing, as long as I can watch the fish from that very bridge, I will believe in the inevitability of peace.”

The set of his features morphs into something rather teasing as he adds, “I won’t let it burn, though. I’d miss watching the fish too much.”

What does your typical day look like?

Bellamy’s gaze diverts towards an open window, and for a second there’s a tension in the air, as if he longs to catapult himself from the ledge and catch the breeze like a bird. Slowly, he starts speaking. “I- before my parents called me back, I’d travel wherever the wind took me.” His head tips back, the slender baring of his throat at odds with the quiet assurance that wraps around him like a cloak, before his regard cascades back towards the questioner. “Now, whenever I don’t have jobs, I usually visit To Tame a Soup, and help out there whenever I’m not on the bridge.” A self-deprecating smile rewrites the curve of his mouth. “Otherwise, I’m practicing parkour.” There’s something faintly nostalgic lacing through his eyes. “It’s the closest I can get to freedom nowadays. Doesn’t hurt that it also counts as exercise,” and he offers a quick wink.

What are your thoughts on the war between the Capulets and the Montagues?

His gaze darkens, and suddenly he is Atlas with the burden of the sky. “It is, in a word, pointless,” he pronounces, averting his gaze from the window. “An endless cycle of vengeance dogs every step Verona takes-” He shifts in his seat, artfully easing against the slope of the settee. “-and no one will do a thing to stop it. Where do we end? Do we stop once everyone has been killed?” The slant of his eyes burns with an almost fervent prayer. “Do we stop once every son and every daughter is slain and fed to the dogs? Every action in our dear Verona brings its own cycle of death and destruction- where do we stop?” Bellamy allows his eyes to flutter shut and he is Icarus, shackled to the earth when he once knew flight. “My apologies.” How else would a martyr react towards the chains of loyalty, when those very chains direct him to become a creature of blood and destruction?

In-Character Para Sample:

An onyx gaze slips across the veneer of the airport, the slightest tilt to his lips marking the faint happiness he felt upon seeing the myriad of colorful people, all milling about and chattering to one another about different destinations. The airport is the center of many worlds colliding, the starting and ending point for many. A huff of laughter emerges from his lips as he dips down to collect a newspaper from a lady who’d accidentally bumped into him. “Apologies, madame,” spoken smoothly as he offers it back to the woman, eyes shifting across the surface in a cursory glance.

Those who knew him would be able to tell when he’d suddenly felt the very same staccato beats of eminent doom shackled upon his wrists and ankles, though he merely offered another closed-mouth smile and slipped away. Calloused fingers wrapped around the structure of a chair, and with a light tug, he pulled it out and eased himself down. A vague thought crossed his mind to forcibly stop his digits from trembling, and as he inhaled, he numbed himself to the inevitability of an end to his travels.

Romeo needed him. His family needed him. How could he- How could he ever say no? He has already taken leave for selfish reasons, and he felt that sin weigh upon his very soul. What if- What if he was there? Would the situation have turned out any differently?

No. Chapped lips pressed lightly together, and lashes feathered across the slant of his eyes.

If he dared, he would’ve allowed a slightly frantic laugh to escape his tongue, but they were in public and who knew where enemies lurked? Once again, he was brought into the rhythm of paranoia and revenge. Once again, he was on his way to Verona, beloved city, hated city.

His phone rang. Breath in, breath out- He steeled himself and his hand drifted toward his cell. “Hello?”

All he could hear was the thump-thump of his heart beating a butterfly rhythm, and all he could see was the newspaper in his mind’s eye. Mechanically, he replied. “Yes. I’ll be home soon.”

Extras:

Parkour: He’s rather passionate about parkour, even though it was Roman who’d first brought him and Mercutio into the art. Nowadays, you can probably catch him up on the highest spires and dangling his feet from a rooftop. It’s the closest he can get to the sky, and also the closest feeling to freedom. Doesn’t hurt that it keeps him agile.

Tea: Rather than whiskey or coffee, the drink he indulges the most in is tea, as it’s both healthy and lighter than the rich taste of alcohol and coffee.