#analyzing the characters and their similarities

[princessofghosts-posts]

Nico's Powers and Rick way of writing them.

Honestly,I've been wainting to write this.

We all know Nico powers:

Can manipulate the shadows and travel in it (Umbra-kinesis);

Can sense someone's death and soul;

Can summon ghosts and talk to them;

Can summon skeletons that obey to his orders and fight for him;

Can use dreams to send messages;

Can unconsciously split the ground and create cracks or Underworld's openings;

Can turn someone into a ghost and make them forgot their life and ability to speak;

Can turn someone into a skeleton;

Has influence on the dead and can evade them when he has to;

Can create earthquakes (not major ones like Percy);

Technically has Geo-kinesis powers too (like Hazel);

Can summon zombies to serve him;

Can conditionate the CJ's lares speaking ability by forcing them to shut up;

Can influence the dead ones with his mood;

Death-touch;

(If I missed some feel free to add)

Other than this,you need to remember that his title as Ghost King give him some more leverage,and his sword is an uniqueness in the world that give him the ability to suck someone's soul in it.

By only this list you can tell that Nico is extremely powerful,and he is still younger than Percy,with a weak physical body (depression and ED do some wonders to you-) and wasn't never "officially trained" like him since he wasn't around camp much. But he still pulled insane acts even without being 100% ok most of the time.

Nico powers,differently from Percy and Thalia,are extremely versatile. While those two can use whatever source or form of water/lightning to fight,they can't do much outside of their fathers's domains. And then you have Nico. Nico that can use his powers to travel around the world and sending messages with a mental link,other than use them to fight. People always talks about Percy controll over all types of liquid (even poison or the Underworld's rivers),but there is still water in them,so it's normal for him to do so. Thalia can use lightnings because it's normal for her to do so since those are Zeus's main sources of power. But Nico's powers are more than just controlling the dead,he can manipulate dreams (something that only the Hypnos cabin can do if I remember correctly) and can use geo-kinesis too,even tho not as much good or frequent as Hazel (before she started to work with her mist affinity). He can do it all.

I'm not trying to pull the "Nico is more powerful than Percy" argument here,but more focusing on Nico's versatility usage of his powers. And Rick made a mistake here with him,that he realized later and tried to minimize.

You see,when you have a powerscaling system,you usually take the main character as the "default": it's from them that you start to build it so other people can understand where others characters stand,compared to the MC,on the scale. Most of the time,people want their MC to grow stronger after every fight,starting from the bottom,untill they are the most powerful character in the story. It's a format done everywhere (anime,movie,comics,fanfic,books,ecc...) and Rick Riordan also used it with Percy. And when you have as MC the "most powerful character ever" (in this case the most powerful demigod since Heracles times),you need to be careful with your side characters,especially when the author doesn't want them to outshine the MC. For this reason,most of the time,they are either weaker than them or have extremely excessive drowbacks. A good example of this is Jason: Rick introduced him to us as the roman counterpart for Percy,but made us understand that he wasn't never at Percy level of power. And when you have a "side" character as Nico,adding to the fact that he's most of the time the wild card for their victories and always know everything,you have a big problem.

Riordan made it clear that no one (for now) can surpass Percy in term of abilities. But he still went out of his way making Nico's powers more versatile than the others. Logically,he should have been stronger than Percy,especially because death cannot be stoped and it's part of everyone life,but canonically it wasn't going to happen since the MC is Percy. Riordan realized in a second moment that his powers were too much and decided to make sure Nico was always held back by something from going full out (like Jason).

Nico is the only child of the big 3 that,if he use so much of his powers,has extremely horrible drowbacks even when he shouldn't. I could understand during MoA-BoO events in HoO,he was either dying or disappearing into the shadows because of his kidnapping and Tartarus,and still had an extremely draining task to finish. But from HoO to ToA there is a big timeskip (I think 6 months or more but I'm not so sure) where he should had all the time in the world to heal and having back full controll over his powers. But he doesn't. Nico still faint after shadow-travelling,even tho after his trip with the statue he should have been stronger and not having problems for a normal trip. Which sucks,especially when Rick most of the time make him pull some jaw-dropping power-play that give you the full picture on how strong he really is.

I don't think Percy had so many downgrades with his powers,I never saw him almost fainting from controlling the waters. He get tired,yes,but that's it. Thalia has more restrictions because of her fear,but I also never saw her having so many problems after using her powers (after she went with the Hunters we never see her in general anymore). Neither did Hazel with her geo-kinesis powers (before Rick decided to make her learn mist manipulation). Jason is a whole mess because he faint every day when he gets hit by a brick,even when he isn't fighting or using his powers (Rick didn't do him justice either). It's only Nico that has so many negative effects.

And the fandom can explain it,in a canon logic,with: "He's s still young,he will have time to grow stronger." (I agree) ;"He wasn't never in a good physical condition so it's normal that he has this many negative effects." (Even dying he was still able to curse someone to literally becoming a ghost) ; "He was malnourished and depressed,since he didn't take care of himself before he still have problems,wait for him to be healthy." (Again,even in those conditions he still pulled insane stunts). But,outside of the narrative,Riordan totally nerfed him because he realized that he wrote his powers too powerful and useful compared to Percy's,and since he couldn't have his MC outshined,he made sure to slow Nico in any way possible.

In BotL and TLO there are 2 scenes that,for a long time,I thought I was the only one to ever have read them since no one talked about them.

In the end of BotL when Percy get out of the Labyrinth and went with Rachel to see the coffin,Nico created an earth barrier (or something closer to it) to help them escape form Kronos's attack. He never did that after it,and I never saw people acknowledge that scene so I legitimately thought that I was imaginating it. Which was strange since it came right after the famous "Did you just throw a blue brush in the eye of the Titan Lord?" scene,but no. It really happened and Nico did use the earth at his liking. After that Riordan decided to never bought it up and Nico never manipulated the earth in that way (he still split the ground a couple of times) again.

In TLO after Nico went to free Percy from the dungeons,they escaped the palace and went to the Styx. During their escaping Nico glared at the guards,while growing weaker and weaker with each one,and they ignored them. Again,since I never saw someone talk about it I genuinely thought I was remembering things wrong. Especially because it was part of the whole "Betrayal" plot that everyone know. But again,it wasn't the case,Rick just decided to never bring it up again. It was the only time Nico did something like that. Someone can say "Well,those are the royal guards and their boss is his dad they would never go against him." but the guards were against Nico,if he didn't do whatever the fuck he did,they were going to tell Hades about their escape. So,again,Rick realized he gave him a powerful trick and then hoped that one one would remember it after he used it one time.

All of this shows that,even if he is good at writing certain things,when it comes to others topics (like power-scaling,Tartarus's trauma and many more) he just can't write well and try to put patches on the holes,without having success. But that's for another post that I will do.

Rick lack of continuation in his work,and he needs to decide what the hell he is going to do with Nico,because the guy himself is a contradiction that needs to be solved. And if I see someone else say that he is weak because he continue to faint,I'm gonna crash out very very very bad since it's Rick's fault. Nico has grown enough in his power to stand tall and use them without having majors problems (if he abuse them,then of course he is in big troubles). He isn't anymore the 13 years old kid that was dying during a world-ending trip after days of being captive by the enemy,and Riordan needs to acknowledge it and move on from that.

[choshashio]

Literary analysis and how it can help you become a better writer

For those of you who don't know what literary analysis is, it's the examination and evaluation of a literary work. This can include things like, novels, poems, kids books, and even fanfiction.

How does this help me become a better writer?

To analyze a text, you need to have an argument against what is written, whether it's a technical analysis, or a personal comparison, or you have a theory about the story or characters and you need evidence to prove it.

This dissection of texts goes above and beyond just reading something and absorbing it. It helps you, as both a reader and an author to decipher the text on a whole new level and uncover hidden messages or meanings within the authors writing, or within their characters.

When you can do this, it helps you absorb an authors style and connect with their writing much easier, instead of just reading or doing copywork.

As you're doing this, you should analyze your own work as well. Go back and analyze how you wrote characters, Do i portray them exactly how i want? analyze your use of description and dialogue, Do i give too many descriptions? Is it too long?

Compare your work to another that is similar and view the structural differences and how they are similar, or how they contrast.

[thewhizzyhead]

not really a ramble and more of a brainfart but i really do find it interesting how mercy is,,,really really similar to both ajax and fox, the two girls she replaces in the roll-calls. Like ajax she is very confrontational, quite aggressive, and quick to defend and fight, but like fox she is also quite insecure in her standing and worth in the warriors and is very eager to prove herself to them. and in my opinion, the former makes fox entrust the warriors to her in reunion square, and the latter makes ajax trust her in sick of runnin'. I dunno what this all means but um yea I just find it neat that she takes after the two characters that really got fleshed out the most compared to their movie versions!

[fictionadventurer]

I got curious about the podcast you've been listening to, and I listened to the Snow White episode tonight. They got into this abstract discussion of motherhood, and I was surprised that no one brought up the fact that Snow White herself doesn't have a mother anymore (or a father, presumably), and the fact that she is an orphan contextualizes how she responds to others with motherliness. I just rewatched the movie, and it's notable what an especial compassion she has for anyone without parents. Before the huntsman makes his attempt, she's concerned about a little bird separated from its parents and helps them reunite. Later, she concludes that the inhabitants of the cottage must be seven children who are orphans, and it's clear that she's worried for them, and ready to step in to help them out--which in turn will help her out, because she's an orphan in need of care herself. No one has been taking care of this girl, and it says so much about her character that her response to this deprived upbringing is to make every effort to give others what has been denied to her.

I noticed the same thing during rewatch--Snow is constantly caring for others, especially children. I hadn't consciously connected it with her orphan status--I focused on the fact that she's a good mother contrasted with the evil queen as a bad mother--but you're so right. Snow White knows the pain of losing her parents and it gives her so much compassion for those in similar situations, and it's so impressive and says so much about her strength of character.

[clanborn]

i think warrior cats fans who love tearing apart warrior cats would love tearing apart abc’s lost (2004-2010).

[oltammefru]

As promised, here is an analysis of these two specific words ("terminal illness") in Theresa's letter to Kal'tsit, and Kal'tsit's subsequent reaction to them.:

(from Theresa's letter to Kal'tsit)

First off, let's talk about Kal'tsit's reaction to this line, but before we can do this, we have to talk about a piece of context that's necessary to understand everything, which is that Theresa had intended for the letter to be found and read by Kal'tsit at a time where the dust had settled and things were at peace. However, Kal'tsit, being the all-knowing catgirl she is, found the letter almost immediately and read it while the fallout from Theresa's death/the collapse of Babel was being resolved. At the time Kal'tsit read it, she didn't really have the proper time to process her grief, and was in a very very different mindset than what Theresa had intended when reading the letter. Keep this in mind throughout the analysis, since it's a decently relevant background detail. I've talked more in depth about this detail in a previous post.

Another important piece of context (and this part is sort of speculative and a lot of it is specifically the way I interpret things, and feels somewhat less "directly supported by canon" than most of the rest of this post), is that towards the end of her life, Theresa is quite a bit more sorrowful. At this point, she has been forced to flee her home, she's been turned against by those who were close to her, the Kazdel civil war has been going on for a while and there's not really any end in sight. By the time she's written the letter, she's sort of accepted her fate, that for this to end in a way that is acceptable for her, she must die and leave those she loves behind. For the most part, Theresa's letter to Kal'tsit is one that still has her signature idealism and hope for the future, however, I'd argue that there's a few parts, especially the line about her having a "terminal illness," where we can see this fatalism sort of leak through. To Theresa, perhaps it was always fated to end like this, one way or another, because she is, after all, a patient living with an uncurable, terminal disease.

Now, let's talk about how Kal'tsit reacts to this:

(From Kal'tsit's 3rd file. The context for this is that Kal'tsit is reforming Babel into Rhodes Island basically immediately after Babel's fall/Theresa's death.)

Kal'tsit's reaction to this line seems sort of unusual or uncharacteristic, especially given just how much she believes in Theresa and everything she said and stood for (which Kal'tsit herself acknowledges here.) She is clearly greatly affected by what Theresa said, to the point where it seems that she's almost desperate to prove that Theresa was wrong. We'll come back to this later.

Now, let's examine the concept of "terminal illness" in a literal sense, and how it relates to Kal'tsit's role as a doctor (once again, interpreted in a literal medical sense).

(From right before the Bird Mephisto fight.)

Kal'tsit, as a doctor, believes that purely medically speaking, there is no such thing as an uncurable or untreatable disease. To her, even conditions like Oripathy which seem untreatable are (to quote Kal'tsit's 3rd file) "waiting for the day they can be cured to come," and therefore not something a doctor should ever use as an excuse.

However, this is Arknights, and the concepts of "medicine" and the role of "doctor" have meaning far beyond just their literal, medical sense; "medicine" as a concept is also a metaphor for many of the more overtly political themes we see in Arknights. Like Aak explains (while simultaneously calling you "my dude"), the concept of "medicine" goes far beyond merely just "treating patients":

By itself, the concept of medicine is sort of reactionary, in that the doctor aims to treat the symptoms and disease and harm done to people, but that alone doesn't do anything to address the systems that cause them and can often serve to reinforce them. To people like Kal'tsit and other Rhode Islanders, it is part of their duty as doctors to proactively fight against injustices and dismantle the systems that perpetuate those injustices. This is why Rhodes Island, despite being ostensibly a medical organization (and they are one!) is also very willing to get involved in political matters (which you can see in basically every storyline and event in which Rhodes Island as an organization appears in.)

(Kal'tsit says this right after the previous Bird Mephisto passage)

In particular, one metaphor Kal'tsit really likes to use is to compare hatred to a disease. (The most prominent example of her saying this is during the flashback of her invasion of Kazdel in chapter 11, so it feels a little weird/perhaps a little out of context to use this as an example, but despite that I think that comparison does encapsulate her worldview well.) To her, her missions of protecting the lives of those that live on Terra, treating illness, and dismantling the ways in which people are oppressed and exploited are really one and the same.

If you pay attention to some of the things Kal'tsit says, you'll probably notice the perspective she has on the concept of "fate":

(This appears in Kal'tsit's conversation with the Doctor after the Bird Mephisto encounter.)

To Kal'tsit, the concept of fate is meant to be "shattered," as we see her say in this conversation that she has with Outcast in a flashback in Chapter 9. (I don't believe it's ever outright stated that Kal'tsit was the one talking to Outcast here, but I'm like 90% sure it's her.)

(This is once again from the conversation with the Doctor before the Bird Mephisto encounter).

The existence of life on Terra is very precarious, in many cases, it's a continued struggle for existence that is liable to go awry and must be actively protected. In many ways, the struggle for existence itself on Terra, a world filled with hatred and prejudice, even as many disasters threaten to destroy everyone, is just another form of that struggle against fate and inevitable death that Kal'tsit talks so much about. For Kal'tsit, to struggle against fate is really what is at the center of being a doctor. It's a refusal to allow fate to take its course for Oripathy to claim the lives of more people, it's a refusal to allow hatred to divide those that should be united, it's a refusal to allow the greed of those in power to use others to their own ends, and it's a refusal to allow the existence of life on Terra, which itself hangs on by a thread, to be extinguished.

Now, going back to the "terminal illness" line (because this post was in fact meant to be an analysis of that line.):

One of the reasons why Kal'tsit is so affected by that line is because she interprets it as Theresa having a moment of despair when faced with her death, and perhaps in that despair, entertaining the notion that perhaps Oripathy will never really be cured and its effects will haunt humanity forever, that the cycle of violence will never truly be broken, and the brighter future that they have all fought so hard for may never really be achieved. Another is that she sees the way in which Theresa accepted her own fate, death, and wants to make it so no one ever again has to have the same acceptance of fate and belief that "being infected is a death sentence" that Theresa had. When Kal'tsit reacted to Theresa's "terminal illness" line the way she did, what she was really saying to Theresa was: "No, you were wrong to say that Oripathy was a terminal illness. I will make sure all you fought and struggled and lived and died for will come to fruition and I will make sure no one else will ever have to experience that same despair and acceptance of the inevitability of your death that you had to suffer. If you ever despair or are ever in doubt, I will remind you, and I will be there to witness that better future that you dreamed of for you."

[saspas-library-of-craziness]

Anyone interested in a marvel x POI crossover fic? Battle of New York was in 2012, and so is POI :)

👉👈 trying to gauge interest

[jessamine-rose]

*lovingly tackles Aine*

Read my Yandere! Pierro longfics first ♪( ´▽｀)

Last week, my beloved mutual @ainescribe surprised me with Savior! Darling fan art and AHAI9232@2-!/! CRYING SCREAMING I WANT TO LOOK AT THIS ART AND WORSHIP YOUR VERSION OF SAVIOR THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR BLESSING ME WITH YOUR ART—

*clears throat* Anyway, now that I finally have the time to properly sit down and comment on the fan art, I’ll do just that. Feedback will be in the tags and it will be unhinged. Once again, thank you so much to Aine for drawing this <3

[beevean]

I feel in a very generous mood, and after I talked about how much Lenore fails as a character, I wanted to for once praise the few times when she was pretty well written for who she was meant to be, a professional abuser, liar and manipulator with excellent strategies to make Hector lower his guard. All of these scenes happen in S3E6, for some reason: before and after, she's actually rather sloppy and in your face, and only succeeds because Hector was lobotomized by the writer lol. But this episde is what I mean when I say she had potential.

First, the part where Lenore "offers" the leash:

Lenore: Now then, would you like to go for a walk? Bit of fresh air in the starlight? Hector: I think I would, yes. Lenore: Good. Sadly, there's a condition. *shows leash* Hector: Oh. Lenore: Not my idea. Striga insisted. It should be quite comfortable. She just wanted a little extra security. Hector: You're ten times stronger than I am, Lenore. Lenore: Striga pointed out that you're a magician. And you do want to go for a walk, so… would you mind?

So.

Lenore kickstarts the episode with some fresh humiliation, because she has no time to waste. She jokes that Hector is now walking "on his hind legs" and looks "almost human", jokes again that she dressed up Hector so that his dick won't be stolen by birds, and asks him to smile in the face of his embarrassment like a creepy old man harassing a waitress.

This is the prelude to her downright falling into sexual abuse, which is this entire part.

The request is obviously unfair. Hector has been cooped up in his stagnant cell for what could be weeks, so it's only natural that he would enjoy some fresh air. But in order to get that basic comfort, Hector has to accept being treated like a literal dog for no good reason. And his braincell does activate for a moment, as he points out that yes, there is no good reason to force a leash on him, because Lenore sure showed him how strong and fast she is:

There is no way Hector would even attempt to run away, not when he has no tools at his disposal, he's starved and weakened, the castle is full of other vampires, and Lenore could snap his ankles in a second Annie Wilkes style.

But Lenore is undeterred. First, she says that it was Striga's idea. It's still ambiguous if she was sincere or not: Striga couldn't give less of a fuck about Hector and shows no reaction when, later in the episode, she sees the two on the balcony. That being said, the fact that she is the one complaining, in E8, that Lenore is taking Hector "on fucking walkies" implies that yes, Lenore lied and mentioned the queen who was less likely to bother Hector. As a bonus, she doesn't blame Carmilla, despite her being the first one who put Hector on a leash as he himself points out later on, therefore creating a precedent, because Hector already has beef with Carmilla, and Lenore is aiming to make him get over his resentment. Hence, the name of a vampire he does not care about. (although, logically, Morana would have been better because Striga will have to work closer to Hector once he starts to supply an army, but eh, I guess even Lenore forgot about her lol)

But whoever had the idea doesn't matter, actually. What matters is that Lenore is shifting the blame on someone else. "Oh, I'm so sorry, I wouldn't do this to you, but I'm a poor little girl and I had no choice 🥺 blame her, not me, I'm just the cute princess obeying superior orders 🥺". And since Hector doesn't know Striga at all, and she has no intention of talking to him, he can believe that. She also subtly blames Hector, because well, he wanted to go on a walk, and she's just giving him what he wanted! He should be grateful, really!

Naturally, this excuse falls flat on its face because even if Striga was the one who suggested the leash for "extra security", it's Lenore who decided to make a sexual game out of it. She is the one who has expressed multiple times her attraction to Hector, first by kissing him after beating him to a pulp, and then by playing some more "genuine" compliments during the interrogation - as genuine as they can be after she spent the entire interrogation making him realize how much of a dumbass he was. She didn't need to do any of this. She's having fun for her own amusement, lording her power over Hector.

(mhh, Lenore using sexual abuse for no reason? It's almost like it's a pattern :) it's almost like being a rapist is in her character :) )

On top of this, notice how hypocritical she's being. Lenore is often treated as inferior to the other three, like she's just a silly girl sitting among adults and not one of the important queens. She clearly resents this, to the point of, as linked above, beating Hector to a pulp when he too underestimated her. But here? She'll gladly pretend Striga is her superior and he has no other choice but to comply with her request. Now that it's convenient to her, she'll happily play the part of the powerless little princess in a den of evil queens :)

But she's not done! Because at Hector's "You're ten times stronger than I am", Lenore retorts (again blaming Striga, because she has to look blameless) that he's a magician. This is a profoundly stupid excuse because Hector is not a magician, he's a Forgemaster who can't do shit without a forging tool: if he were a "magician" like, say, Sypha or the one who brainwashed an entire village, Lenore would already be a pile of ashes. But again, logic doesn't matter: what matters is that Hector is painted like the real threat to Lenore, the one who has the power to hurt her and not the other way around. See, she's just trying to protect herself from the mean Forgemaster, poor thing! This comes into play later.

Now, were Hector a stubborn person who valued his own dignity, this would be the moment where he'd show Lenore the middle finger and resign himself to staying in the stagnant cell. But Hector is not stubborn. Hector doesn't care about his own dignity and honor: he wants to feel safe and cared for. Plus, Lenore has already beaten him at the first sign of defiance: how does he know that she wouldn't punish him again if he refused her proposal? Even just by taking away the few "gifts" she had given him. So, powerless and too weakened to put up a mental fight, he caves in, because he's willing to give away his humanity for a few minutes of comfort and pretending Lenore is taking care of him.

Before I move on, I need to point out the half-clever, half-frustrating ironic echo the "magician" line gets in S4E6 that almost redeems it:

This is what in a vacuum I would call a big dick move lol. How delightfully sassy it is for Hector, after getting his heart broken and biding his time by coddling his abuser's feelings, to throw Lenore's excuses back in her face to put her in a position of helplessness! Oh, he can't be trusted because of his powers, and that was the reason he was treated like a dog and had a slave ring brute forced onto his hand when he would have willingly agreed to becoming Lenore's pet? Well, then Lenore was a giant idiot for trusting him after raping him into slavery and believing he would be harmless and happy with her, right? :)

(it would have been better if they used the exact word again, but whatever, nitpick)

Sadly I can't be fully happy with this scene because, despite his satisfied smirk shown here, Hector isn't really getting back at Lenore for the disgusting way she treated him, but he's instead trying his best to protect her with no malice in his heart, as shown when Isaac arrives and as shown by how he apologizes before trapping her. The parallel between Lenore "protecting" Hector by ruining his life because of her selfishness and Hector returning the favor is obvious, but it's as unsatisfying as possible, because by now the story wants us to feel sorry for Lenore, and Hector's gesture is meant to be tragic, not the rightful comeuppance. Also, due to how wishy-washy the worldbuilding is, I really can't tell if Hector deliberately used the wrong word as a reference to make Lenore really feel bad for her past actions (unlikely, given how he forgave her of everything, but a girl can dream), or if he's seriously calling himself a wizard, which even in the context of the show is very wrong and would be yet another way the animated franchise has watered down the concept of Devil Forging.

That being said, I can ignore the rest of the episode and pretend Hector was being snarky against his abuser 💖 I don't care if it's OOC and it's not like Hector to be this spiteful 💖 go king 💖

After this digression, back to S3E6, before Lenore became a woobie love interest and was still a vile manipulator.

I talked about this scene here, and mostly said that it was wasted potential for Lenore's final act in S4 for multiple reasons. But, for the purpose of this post, it is another nice attempt at manipulation, even if it's a basic "look how nice this place is! You'll enjoy it every night if you'll work for us!". Symbolically, it could be seen as Lenore dragging Hector away from humanity and towards the world of vampires... which would be poignant if Hector didn't start already as someone who turned his back against mankind in favor of vampires and hasn't budged from his beliefs. But eh, I get the idea, and it can be seen as foreshadowing to Lenore allowing Hector free roam of the castle once he becomes her pet. It sure is a nice gilded cage, isn't it?

Then, we have the scene on the balcony:

Lenore: Does it hurt? Hector: No. It just reminds me of the last time someone put a collar on me. Lenore: In Braila? Hector: When Carmilla almost killed me. Lenore: Well, she does have a temper. But she would never have meant to kill you. Hector: No. Because she needs me to be her forgemaster slave. Lenore: No, because if she'd meant to kill you, you would quite simply be dead. Hector: Hmph. Lenore: And if she'd meant to torture you, you would have arrived here carrying your guts in both hands with a spike up your arse. Hector: I suppose that's true. I mean, I can see her doing it. In nightmares and such. Lenore: She does have a temper, but she's logical. She never lets it run away with her to the point of, oh, I don't know, condemning the entire human race to death? Just a recent example of what being genuinely insane with murderous rage looks like. Hector: All right. Lenore: You may not have been treated like a boy king on your way here, but you did show up alive. Hector: Might have been nice, though. Lenore: Have you considered that you're only alive because you listened to Carmilla back in Dracula's castle? Hector: I hadn't. She tricked me. Lenore: I don't think she did. I think she made complete sense to you, and you felt guilty, understandably, about how it all played out. Hector: She made me betray Dracula. Lenore: No, she didn't. She showed you the old man was insane, and she saved you from the consequences. Nobody here wants to harm you. We just don't quite trust you yet. Hector: Trust me? Lenore: You did try to hurt me, Hector.

I still don't know why I can't find a clip of this part. With how crucial it is to their development (and you know, shippers would get a kick out of seeing the peggable boy leashed by the dommy mommy having a cute bonding moment), you'd think there'd be plenty of videos.

Nevertheless, this is the only time Lenore disgusted me in an intentional way, which I appreciate. His character development on stall, Hector has no moral qualms about working for vampires who want to turn humans into livestock, but he is still angry at Carmilla for tricking, beating and imprisoning him, understandably so. She is the only reason Hector still hasn't accepted Lenore's proposal: he doesn't want to work for her out of spite. So what does Lenore do with her amazing diplomacy skills? Launch herself into some pristine abuse apologism, the likes of which are only paralleled by Lenore stans themselves, using every excuse in the book to downplay Carmilla's brutal, sadistic beatdown of Hector, because oh, she just has a temper! Oh, it was just a one time thing! Oh, she saved your life nonetheless, even if you were treated less than royally! Oh, but Dracula was even more insane, so you can't be mad at Carmilla, she was just trying to help!

She's hitting every point possible to make Hector give up his grudge, because who cares about how he was treated, he's alive now, right? He should be grateful that he was "rescued" from Dracula's insanity, shouldn't he? Which is very similar to Lenore's overall attitude, like when she lowkey implied that she was the only one in the castle willing to treat Hector nicely after brutally beating him into submission :)

And as the cherry on top, she is blaming him for that, too! Hector tried to hurt her, the meanie, so really, no wonder he's being treated like a dog! No one wants to hurt him, she swears, it's just that these four super strong vampires are scared of this human prisoner! And if Lenore beat him to a pulp the other day (not that she is directly mentioning it, of course, the accent is on how he tried to hurt her), well, it's all his fault, so he can't complain. Mhh, reminds me of another scene where Lenore downplays her disgusting actions by shaming Hector...

Goodness, but Lenore must have gotten a degree in abuse apologism with flying colors! Look at that flawless DARVO! She would be a brilliant portrayal of a self-centered piece of shit who refuses to take responsibility, if I knew it was all intentional!

I also like that, near the end, when she's rebuking Hector's protests, for once she doesn't sound insufferably smug, but like she is patiently correcting a stubborn child making him reason. This is much better than her usual tone of voice that can only be described as "I get wet at seeing you humiliated", and not just because it's less grating on the ears: she is supposed to sound trustworthy and well-meaning, emotionally comforting Hector and not making fun of him. This is the tone she should have had from day one. It also would have helped distinguishing her and not making her sound like Carmilla 2.0, BDSM patch included.

The rest of the sequence speaks for itself. Lenore gives Hector a bigger cell (with added symbolism of her tugging his leash to lead him to it, showing that she is forcing all these comforts on him), complete with a book about vampires that he might find interesting, and engages in yet some more sexual play by removing the collar in the most erotic way possible for the joy of the shippers and the thirsty fans. But I want to focus on two things.

One, the book.

When it came to convincing Hector that nighttime is better than daytime, thus the vampire world is better than the human world, I said it was redundant because Hector already feels closer to the former than the latter. This, however, is a much better way to lure him in: Lenore is welcoming Hector even further in their world - or rather, her world. She is sharing their knowledge, the secret knowledge lost by humans and preserved by vampires, much like when during their walk she flaunted the castle's hypocaust that keeps the cells warm ignore that it's normally kept lit by slaves, giving us some unintentionally clever foreshadowing. In E8, Hector is genuinely fascinated by it:

Lenore's strategy of "humanizing" her race, and thus herself and the council so that Hector won't be scared, is pretty obvious but efficient. It's a shame that it's redundant because Hector has no prejudices, nor has he shown any, against vampires (because that would have created conflict between him and Lenore's plan): but hey, better be safe than sorry, right? In a way, it's a continuation of Lenore's abuse apologism, when she tried her best to paint Carmilla as a logical person "with a temper", and not as a violent beast to be scared of. "I keep telling you, we're not monsters." Because if we act like monsters, it doesn't come natural to us, the civilized species that we are, so you must have done something to provoke it :)

Most importantly, this really hits one of Hector's weakest spots: feeling appreciated for his talents. It's all but said that the reason he feels more comfortable around vampires is because they mostly value him for his Devil Forging and necromancy, unlike humans who chased him away for that. For a human being who feels no connection to mankind, being offered a peek into vampire culture must have felt a honor.

Lenore giving him that book "given his profession" shows that she's meeting him on his level, and she doesn't simply see him as a tool like Carmilla, but someone whose blasphemous knowledge is respectable and worth nurturing. She didn't need to do that: Hector is already a genius in Devil Forging, so it's not for him to study to become more efficient. But it's basically a kind gift based on his interests.

But the really brilliant line is this one:

The levels of mindfuckery here!

Lenore coerced Hector into wearing a dog collar and leash for the simple purpose of walking around, making him feel like it was his fault he had to be treated that way, and all for the purpose of gaslighting him into forgiving Carmilla for hurting him. And after that gratuituous display of power over him, she is acting like they just went on a date and she is sheepishly asking permission for another one. (There is no clip, but the tone sounds soft and honestly grateful, too, like he's really doing her a favor.)

This is the exact same strategy of blaming Striga for the leash. She's passing the responsibility onto someone else: Hector, in this case. Lenore is pretending Hector has any power over their encounters. She's just a poor girl who wants to spend quality time with him, but she would never intrude upon his space without permission 🥺 even thought she just literally did by nearly kissing him while taking away the collar before he could ever express any interest in her 🥺 no, really, she leaves the choice up to him 🥺 (so that everything that follows will be his fault, obviously)

But Lenore doesn't just delude Hector into feeling like he has control right after stripping it from him: the point is, naturally, making him feel wanted. Not just as a thing to play with, because otherwise Lenore can just visit him whenever she pleases, but as a person worthy of respect. She likes spending time with him, and she demurely asks if he too wants to see her - and after popping a boner after her little stunt being lovebombed like that, of course Hector can't say no. Not after feeling genuinely cared for as a person, his biggest weak point.

How nice, after their rough start, they're finally developing a relationship of equality and respect despite their circumstances!

This is what Lenore should have been since the beginning. Wearing the mask of the demure little girl whom others make fun of, who is completely harmless (unless the other person deserves it), really, her hands are tied but she always tries her best, look at her gifts made from her pure kindness of heart! And subtly but constantly snipering at Hector's heart, sensing the chinks in his armor and pouncing on them like only a consummate liar and inherent predator can do. Not smugness, not humiliation, not sexual molestation: the believable lie of love and affection, targeted to someone who would sell his soul to taste those crumbs.

Or worse, the other interpretation is that this isn't even malicious lying at all. Now sure, Lenore can't spend one second in S3 without that obnoxious smirk on her face because she's just enjoying so much taking advantage of the power she has over her prisoner, and sure, I have proof that the ring was a pointless act of cruelty that nullifies all her hard work... but who says every word out of her mouth is a lie meant to harm and psychologically break Hector? Maybe it's just 90% of them! Maybe she's genuine when she shows attraction to Hector, and compliments him, and is happy when gets "permission" to see her again because it also makes her feel wanted (after all, Lenore's priority is feeling good about herself). Maybe she does care about him and she was earnest when she tried to "comfort" Hector after raping him into slavery - oh, my bad, into a position of pet... problem is that she is still a vampire, who cannot conceptualize love as humans do, and sees relationships as inherently unbalanced where she is the one where she has to have all the power. And she's willing to do whatever it takes to gain it, say every lie that comes to her fangs, twist every word, shift every ounce of blame, as long as it's for her pet's own good. Because that's what vampires do.

It's a shame those are the only instances Lenore is well written as a villain, because man, the depths of the realistic, relatable horror displayed in one episode are staggering and well conveyed. And most of this behavior is still carried into S4! ... completely by accident, which ignites my fury like few things.

She could have been a great, viscerally repulsive villain and an accurate depiction of an abuser who truly thinks she's in the right, and not just mere masturbation fodder. Now, if only Hector was written with more spine than a beached jellyfish...

[princessofghosts-posts]

Being a PJO fan and an Epic: the musical enjoyer means that there will always be songs that will make you think of a character in the Riordanverse.

In Ruthlessness (Ocean Saga),the whole verse with Poseidon dissing Odysseus's way of doing things can also be used for Ethan and Percy's mindsets,and how they approach the problem in a different way from the other.

Then we have Dangerous (Vengeance Saga) where Hermes share his plan to Odysseus,and I can easily imagine it as Nico telling Percy about his plan for the war against Kronos. And both Odysseus and Percy just agree to it without a question.

Keep your friends close (Ocean saga) it's literally Percy and Luke dynamic in the first ever book,especially at the end. Odysseus got betrayed by one of his closer friends,like Percy was betrayed and almost killed by Luke.

Listening to My Goodbye (Cyclops Saga) made me think of Annabeth and Athena relationship and their fall out,like Odysseus had with Athena.

In Odysseus (Ithaca Saga) I can totally envision Percy losing it after so many things that happened to him,either when he was in Tartarus or during TLO (the "no one touch her!" scene),like Odysseus did after he come back to a trashed home with his wife and kid in danger.

And many more. And of course,there are also other similarities too. Take the "all you gotta do is not open this bag" lyrics for example,you can also use them when it cames to Pandora Box in TLO. Ruthlessness can also be applied to Percy and Nico different way of dealing with an enemy,or Cupid straight up traumatizing Nico.

Then of course we have Polyphemus,the whole Circe Saga,Scylla,Love in Paradise and Charybdis,songs that have antagonists/characters we saw during the first 5 books. Literally SoM is just Annabeth and Percy going off on their own Odyssey.

It's a good time to be a mythology kid and fan of both of them.

[modelxis]

Ashe looks at Master Albert who is kneeling before her. She then glanced at the broken up throne where he was sitting before. Albert tried his best to talk. "to be defeated by my own creation...to say i'm not proud is lying" 'Ashe...?' Model A tried to coach Ashe out of whatever she is thinking but the girl remain interested in the throne. She had defeated one of the Sage Trinity, the literal creator of Game of Destiny, wouldn't that make her the Megaman King by default? She then switch her attention back to her suppose-only-blood-relative, he is smirking despite the pain, as if he knew what she is considering. "...you won, so naturally, everything is in your hands now" Ashe doesn't replied. She just stare at him. Isn't this the best way to gain instant fame and recognition around the world, isn't this what she had always wanted? Everyone will know her name and history will gain a whole new chapter all about her... Then she smile. "nah" She answered and Albert's face morph to confusion "Cuz' is just too easy. Where's the fun in all of that?" Ashe took a step back, smilling proudly while looking down upon Albert's defeated form. "Is that your best answer? You're most definitely one of my creations. You… have surpassed me… My research wasn't wrong after all… Goodbye… Ashe…! You can have your peace, and… rot in it!"

[amelikos]

What's you all favorite trio in Horizons? Could be a group of three characters tied narratively, or a trio that is more straightforward and established as friends, etc.

Mine is the trio of Liko, Friede, and Amethio.

[larabar]

quick random poll because this has been bugging me since frontiers came out

cutscene in question -> X

[whalesforhands]

how do you differentiate dyf! mc and omegaverse! mc nvy? they seem kind of similar 😭

dyf mc is extremely aware of their shame and embarrassment, the other will be extremely shameless

[bijoumikhawal]

I think if Ziyal was more obviously a little fucked up a lot of people would go from low key ignoring her to hating her but she should've been more obviously fucked up

[irenespring]

I have seen some posts about an ideal House MD crossover and I would like to submit ER for consideration.

I want to see Kerry Weaver and Gregory House interact.

Both are disabled and suffer from chronic pain, both are autistic, both come off very poorly to people (Kerry unintentionally, House as a defense mechanism), both are queer (Kerry canonically) but closeted for at least a large portion of the show, both Need Therapy. But yet they have wildly conflicting personalities and priorities.

For example, Kerry cares about what everyone thinks about her, desperately wants to be liked by her coworkers, and tries so hard that it backfires. She wants to work her way up the system and play by the rules so she can prove herself to herself and to others. Unlike the social scene at ER which confuses her and rejects her, The Rules are simple, and when she follows them authority figures like her. Better, when she follows The Rules and proves she's smart, she gets promoted. When she is promoted, she assumes people have to respect her, because they too should follow The Rules and thus respect their superiors the way she does. When this interpersonal approach also fails, she has the consolation of even when people reject her for ableist or homophobic reasons, she still has some power.

House only cares what Wilson (and maybe Cuddy) thinks of him, but tries to push them away to see what they do and to prove to himself solitude is inevitable/misery is unavoidable. While Kerry uses ambition to cover for insecurity, House uses surface-level cruelty. This is a problem, and why I can never decide how I feel about his character, because his depression and pain does not justify his behavior (not that I still don't enjoy his character when watching the show, just from a serious analysis perspective). He has given up on interpersonal connection in a way that Kerry has not. Through isolating himself, he makes himself the source of his misery. He maintains the idea that if he wanted to, he could be liked, and thus he has control over his life.

Both of these responses are reactions to pain and rejection, but in different directions. Both characters are implied to be in constant pain, and there is evidence both were mistreated before the Problem Behaviors arose. Kerry's response is to say "well I'm your boss, so you have to respect me no matter my identity" and craves power. House's response is "well if I'm such an asshole, you hate me because of something I did, and thus it's my decision you reject me, not something forced on me" and craves control over relationships.

I would like to see them interact, especially beyond the inevitable initial angry argument. I think it could be interesting. Friends is a stretch (I don't think Kerry could brush off House's offensive comments because of how much similar things hurt her in canon) but they would grow to understand each other over time.