#Callidae

[princefleabitten]

R.A. Salvatore’s Traveling Guide to the Northpole, featuring the Ice Oasis Callidae! (Legend of Drizzt: Starlight Enclave)

[defnotjarlaxle]

Callidae

[artemis-entreri]

[[ TFW you want to create a fantasy word for American football and decide to use words from a real world language without understanding that language’s nuances. 

In a sense, Bob did successfully create the word “football”, however it seems that the “ball” part refers to the testicular variety of balls. 

]]

[viaphni]

The Shrouded Shards memes that a) nobody will understand b) are extremely low quality c) have characters nobody has heard of d) are very real

[the-shrouded-shards]

A new face, a long time friend.

[wolffox-makes-art]

Take this meme i made in 2 minutes because drawing is making me hate myself rn

Seriously Esperanza was either desperate as fuck or Hera was using magic on her

Because why the fuck did Esperanza keep letting her watch Leo?

Also yall are sleeping on the things we can create with Hera and Leo's relationship same with Esperanza and Leo.

CUS WHY IS THERE ALMOST NOTHING ON EITHER ON A03?

[the-sadcowboy]

Leo Valdez and Tía Callidas realationship:

[jaybirdstab]

My dumbass (who fluently speaks Spanish) has been pronouncing Tia Callida’s (from Heroes of Olympus) name wrong!

I’ve been saying “Call-i-da” instead of “Ca-lli-da” with the weird soft Spanish double “L”.

It’s Callida like Fallen or Fall.

Callida is literally “fall” in Spanish. And it just flew over my head.

[missrosiewolf]

I wonder if Salvatore is taking inspiration from Erin Evans. It’s been a long while, but iirc she referred everyone as man or woman in her Brimstone Angels books — regardless of whether they were human or not.

I bring it up because I've noticed Salvatore is doing that in his recent books too.

[somewhereincairparavel]

Jason's lack of backstory is easily bc we got introduced to him as an amnesiac tbh. New characters like Leo immediately had past flashbacks within a few pages into his POV about his mom and Tia callida. Now I'm just realising how different it would've been if SON was published first with everyone mentioning the mysterious perfect, Jason Grace, and included a few "leader Jason" flashbacks from reyna, or just general childhood flashbacks of how he refused to join the prestigious first cohort and joined the twelfth instead to bring glory to it, while defending the unpopular kids from getting bullied, when he led the battle of mount orthrys and killed krios, and THEN we got to meet him in TLH. Where he's all clueless and silly, nothing like how "heroic" he's described by Reyna and others, he'd be unaware of how much ppl look up to him in a camp that's miles away, and noble he actually is, while we know it. It would make him more endearing to read about since we know everyone knows him as the mighty golden boy.

He'd even be considered stronger if rick has done this, to the point that even the brick jokes wouldn't affect the reputation against Jason's power. Since we got to SEE his fighter moments in flashbacks. So we KNOW he's a tough guy.

Gosh that would've fixed everything. Ppl would've loved him.

And the majority of the readers only hated Jason bc he was introduced so randomly, making ppl wonder where Percy was, causing nobody to care about the new protagonist, so by releasing SON first, that would've been solved as well, since we'd know where Percy is, and would gain curiosity as to what's going on at camp half blood with this mysterious new boy as a camper. Making us interested in Jason, I feel like the audience would've gotten much better reactions to this as well, and the Thalia being Jason's sister revelation would've been even more epic.

[kastalani123]

I know that PJO Hera is an absolute bitch and even in mythology she isn't among the best, but. But.

Tell me that Hera, Goddess of Motherhood, wasn't completely enthralled when Leo Valdez, a few months old and so tiny and fragile, grabbed her finger for the first time and giggled like it was the best thing to happen in his life.

Tell me that Hera, Mother, doesn't replay the first time Leo Valdez, a year old and always covered in bumps and bruises because he climbs everything, said "Tía" years after it happened.

Tell me that Hera, Patron of Women, didn't have cuckoos following Esperanza, young and alone and discarded by her family, when she had to lock up late to make sure no harm came to her.

Tell me that Hera, Goddess of Motherhood, didn't feel worshiped to the highest degree when Esperanza, tired and dirty and bleeding, worked nights so that she could afford to spoil her son for his birthday.

Tell me that Hera, Tía Callida, didn't care when she put Leo, all of two years old and burning with a flame so bright the Earth Mother herself felt the need to intervene, in the fireplace as though to burn away his mortality.

[hamiltonandpercyjackson]

rereading tlh post #3:

leo had to watch tia callida (hera) ruin his life at EIGHT YEARS OLD and spent YEARS trying to get over that and then had to watch his best friends’ lives be destroyed by her too???????? AGH

[seanofbeankeep]

Glaciers Edge spoilers

This quote from the books about Jarlaxles inner feelings when finding Callidae.

I do think his character deep down always dreamed of founding a surface city for the drow he loved and to help them all live without survival horrors of Menzoberranzan. But he buried it deep to survive and due to his fears. Like not believing it was possible especially with fall of that other Drow city and seeing houses like Oblodra fall so violently when challenging Lolth.

Also that what others said despite not believing in their cult, he couldn’t shake how everyone always portrayed him and his people as evil. If enough people tell you you’re bad it takes a lot to protect yourself from those words, especially when they enforce that belief. This happens a lot to people raised with religious trauma and fanaticism when their true self is against the holy text.

We know he was consumed by guilt that what happened to Zak was his fault and why he helped Drizzt. He loved Zak but due to what people said about him he possibly feared he’d always betray who he loves. Can’t help but think he felt same depressed pain over what happened to his relationship with Artemis deep down. Fear he’d betray his own dreams and friends. He was constantly fighting indoctrination he grew up in. ‘You are who we say you are, the only way you can survive is under the rule of lolth. You can trust no one and there’s no hope.’

I think Drizzt and the shard (that brought up his buried ambitions) gave him opportunities to explore this hope of a Lolth free city again. Then he discovered Callidae that says so much more and removes his fears that his hope is real and not fake like so many people have indoctrinated at him about. That Orcs, dwarfs, drow and humans etc can build a thriving city together. Maybe why he wasn’t open with his mission to find it in fear people would laugh at him for having this hope or fear it’s false hope and how they might change his friendships.

Like all his surface actions he did was always tinged with the fear the pessimistic view of the world and Drow would prove true but he keeps finding reasons to fight against that cynicism. Which leads more into his actions in Lolths warrior when he discovers the truth and optimism proven real and not a pipe dream.

Also he’s cunning he could’ve easily used his smarts to fake his own death, but he doesn’t want to escape alone and live in disguise and not as his full self (another reason he’s a queer icon) like he would’ve been haunted by those he left behind. Or risk Lolth finding him anyway. so for centuries he found it better to create his band to save those rejected instead a small slice of freedom they’d be allowed. Now he learned he could take them away completely and share his dream with them.

Now he knows those betrayals he felt guilty about where never something unchanging in him but Lolths influence and sabotage of his life and freedom. Something they can fight and overcome. Breaking chains of indoctrination from Lolths cult and seeing world in a new way

[everybodyloveshippos]

Artemis Entreri spotted leaving the club in Callidae with Biancorso dasher Vessi

[thegoldenappleofdiscord]

yeah hera sucks but i want to see more fics of her as tia callida trying to babysit an absolutely rabid baby leo

[mnemo-li]

A part of why I love Gromph’s characterization so much is because his tale is really is one of how people are shaped by their environment, and how much they can change once they escape an oppressive environment.

There are times when I wonder if I’m a bad person if I react with “violence” when people do cruel things to me. Like, if someone throw verbal abuse at me and I respond with the same vitriol, what does that make me? But then I realize, I’m not an inherently violent or cruel person. When I’m around my friends, or just people who treat others kindly, I tend to act with kindness and gentleness. That’s when it hits me: it’s not me, it’s my environment.

Do you blame a cat for clawing its jailer when trapped in a cage?

[Spoilers for Maestro til Lolth’s Warrior below.]

When Gromph first leaves Menzoberranzan, there’s an adjustment period. He tries to impose a strict vertical hierarchy upon the Hosttower, a system where he sits at the top, only to be confronted by others who does not agree— Catti-brie, for example. Then, given more time, he relents. He relaxes. He goes from being imposing and demanding to hosting dinner parties where people can have discussions around the table, even allowing them to bring up topics he wouldn’t have considered before.

It even gets to the point where Catti-brie, someone he used to belittle and look down upon, becomes someone he’d trust with the clone of himself— his life, the vessel of his soul.

With Gromph, I too believe that he isn’t inherently “bad”. No one is. He’s not heartless. He even cries when he sees Callidae for the first time. He has feelings aside from hate and anger and sadistic joy. He’s a person, with hopes and fears and desires, and R.A. Salvatore made sure to have written him as such.

Of course, do I foresee Gromph relapsing into his old behavioral patterns sometimes? Yes. But that’s just life. And in the (relatively) short span of time from when he’s fled Menzoberranzan to when he destroys the avatar of Lolth, he’s grown a lot. Whether that growth is *deserved* or not… honestly, I don’t care. It’s not about deserving— it’s just about growing.