#their loyalty cannot be bartered or bought but once its there its There forever kinda thing

[sarioh]

something that drives me insane about etho in the life series is that he is widely characterized by his logic and rationality—he sees himself as strategic and objective, as do the other players—and yet, his defining Thing across all seasons has been his blind faith and loyalty beyond all reason. in 3rd life, he threw himself wholly into dogwarts on a whim out of fondness towards ren. in last life, he sacrificed everything including his own team for bdubs, who was irresponsible and blatantly traitorous and spent half their partnership on red. in double life, he absolutely refused to lay a finger on cleo out of some misplaced sense of friendship and trust—she helped burn down the relationship, sure, but it’s cleo, and cleo is one of the good ones! she would never hurt him, surely! meanwhile cleo was planning to take him out first if it came down to it.

like, for someone who leans so heavily on his brain, he is fundamentally guided by his heart. he’s a survivor who will gamble his own safety to throw himself head-first into the people he decides deserve his loyalty, and that loyalty, once established, is unshakeable. i just think that’s so cool