Gibbs-Pygmalion and Galatea

Long ago, on an island called Cyprus, there lived a group of women who would not acknowledge the legitimacy of Aphrodite as a goddess. This offended her, and she punished them by taking away their shame, leading to them prostituting themselves. Pygmalion, a sculptor on the Island of Cyprus, observed their activities and was disgusted- he swore off all women because of this group's actions. Being a sculptor, he one day began to sculpt a statue of a woman. He out an immense amount of effort and time into the statue, which turned out to be incredibly beautiful. The statue was, in fact, so lovely that Pygmalion fell deeply in love with it. He even goes so far as to pray to Aphrodite at a festival held in her honor to bring him a wife as perfect as his statue. Aphrodite does him one better-she brings the very statue to life for Pygmalion. Her name is Galatea, and she and Pygmalion marry and have two children, Paphos and Metharme.

I could give you a list pages long of characters who I would bring to life without a second thought; one that would be high on that list is a boy named Will Herondale, from the book "The Clockwork Princess". I read this book my freshman year, and I am still incredibly attached to Will. He is an fantastically well developed character, so I can easily imagine him to be real. However, I want Will to come to life mainly because he is an incredible person. To begin with, he has an element of magic to him-he is a shadowhunter, which is this series means a nephilim who trains their whole life to hunt and kill demons that have escaped into our world. This also means that he is a fundamentally good person, as he has given his whole life to protecting the mundane population. He is from Victorian England, which would give him an interesting perspective. Beyond these basic characteristics, Will Herondale is just incredible and fascinating; he has a rune (tattoo-like designs that give shadow hunters extra power) etched into his skin that allows him a photographic memory, which he mainly uses to memorize powerful quotes from books. He is an avid reader in addition to his dedication to fighting demons, and has a particular affinity for a surly cat named Church. Will is also passionate in a way that you can feel seeping out of the page-it makes you want to know him, to be his friend. He is loyal and selfless, while at the same time being sarcastically hilarious and vulnerable in a way that makes him all the more charming. He is a light of a character, and would bring that light and passion into the real world if he were to be granted life.