#analyzing the characters and their similarities

[princessofghosts-posts]

People always talking about Percy and Jason parallelism as if Nico and Percy don't have the same thing.

Let me explain:

Both are a child of the Big Three,only difference is that Percy is the forbidden one while Nico isn't.

Both are extremely powerful and were ostracized by the other demigods for this,only difference is that Percy's mistreatment wasn't as bad or long as Nico's.

Both were in the Lotus,only difference is that Percy stayed for a couple of days,Nico for years.

Both are extremely skilled with swordsmanship,with Percy being at the top.

Both have a very unique sword with a feature of being able to always be with them. Raptide is a pen that will always come back to Percy,while Nico's sword can appear from the shadows with his command.

Both have a sister that they will die for, without a second question asked.

Both were ready to end themselves for their sibling. During SoM,when Percy thought that Tyson died with Clarisse's ship being destroyed,he wished he could drown but couldn't because he's a son of Poseidon. During BotL,Nico tried to switch his souls for the one of his sister (only good thing Minos did was to tell him that Hades won't accept it) knowing full well the consequences.

Based of the point before,both are extremely suicidal. Percy wished he could drown multiple time,and went along with Polybotes's poison only because he thought he deserved to die. Nico doesn't see the value in his life and go on the most suicidal solo-quest ever with the awareness that he might die,and he doesn't care or think the others don't.

In HoO Hazel think how both Percy and Jason are just waiting for a monster too strong to defeat,that can kill them. Nico isn't to far off from this vision too,since in BoO he was ready to end it all,be it by his travel of wanting to kill Octavian.

Based of the other point,they are probably both depressed,with Percy masking his with humor (similar to Leo) or avoiding thinking about it,and Nico is carrying it on his sleeves,fully accepting it.

Poseidon and Hades tried to keep their family safe,proposing to build palaces in their domains,basically the same place where their wives lives with them,so that they can live in peace and Zeus wouldn't know about them.

Sally and Maria rejected the idea,deciding to raise their children with them despite the difficulties and dangers.

Both have a good relationship with their mother,the problem is that Nico can't remember much of her.

Both are scared of their father domains (all of the kids of the Big 3,both romans and greeks,are). In MoA,when Percy was visiting the aquarium with Frank and the tank broke,he thought he was going to drown (ironic,isn't it? The guy that wanted to drown now is scared of it) before remembering he is a child of Poseidon (again,ironic.). His fear was caused by Gaia,when during SoN,she made him sink into quicksand and Hazel had to save him before they got to the boss battle. In BoO,during their trip with the Statue,Nico was actively fading away (and dying),to the point that mortals and demigods could pass through his body. He almost become one with the shadows,the same shadows he use every time he has to travel. Untill then he was comfortable in being in the shadows,because of CHB attitude regarding him,but after that? He didn't saw them in the same way.

The romans don't pay homage to,or don't respect that much,their fathers. Both the temples of Pluto and Neptune at the CJ are in very bad shape,even with a daughter of Pluto living there.

Both are an active part of the two Great Prophecies,with Percy being the prophecy child and a part of the Seven,while Nico does the heavy lifting on the sidelines as a support character. (Both of the time they won thanks to his help).

Chronos wanted them both (and Thalia) on his side. He tormented all of them,but Percy and Nico (and Thalia) stayed loyal to their fathers no matter what.

Both can get along pretty well with their divine families.

Poseidon and Hades have rooms in their palace only for them,when they stay with them or came for a visit; Amphitrite and Persephone (and Demeter) don't mind their presence that much when they are in the palace.

Both are ready to kill for their loved one,especially their partners. (also Annabeth and Will being blond,when Percy and Nico hair's black>>>>>)

Both are prince of their fathers's kingdom (same for the others Big 3 kids) but noble titles aren't a thing in the demigods world (I will forever be pissed about this)

Both Poseidon and Hades care about them in their own strange and limiting ways. At the same time they both fucked them up with their horrible communication skills (The price you pay for being alive??? Bianca should be alive instead of Nico??? Fuck them both for this).

Nico and Percy are the only one with a good relationship (for demigods standard) with their divine parent and families,both in the Big 3 kids club and for the rest of the demigods's population. (the children of Dionysus and Apollo too).

Both went to Tartarus and had their mind fucked up by the gods that were there (Nico needs to see Dionysus on almost a daily basis otherwise he will go insane??? Percy was ready to kill a goodness???). Nyx appeared to both of them (get her away from Nico-) and their powers evolved.

Lot of trauma from all the prophecies and wars they went through.

First impression of their divine sibling was horrible. Triton was extremely judgmental of Percy,without even knowing him,while Melinoë was straight up trauma for Nico.

Both were betrayed by their teacher. Luke gave Percy sword lessons before he left for his first quest,so much so that during SoN,even without memory,Luke's voice reminded him what to do during the war games. Minos was ready to sell Nico to the enemy after he taught him everything he knew about the rituals to invoke the spirits,and went in the Labyrinth with him.

Both lost their memories,Percy because of Hera and Nico because of Hades. Only difference is that Percy memories returned,while Nico will never have all of them back (like Jason).

In their own POVs they don't talk really highly of themselves,and most of the time think about how they messed up certain things,and how other people could do better than them. The few times they feel confident about their abilities? Bad shit happens.

Ragarding the point before of this,both have a low self-esteem.

In the other characters POVs,we see how people actually see them. Hazel almost mistakes Percy for a god because of how handsome,loyal (probably also why Annabeth,Nico,Rachel,Calypso and Reyna fell for him) and powerful he is. Reyna think that Nico's surname give him justice because he looks like an angel (he also pulled Will Solace with being rarely at CHB during that time) when he smile,and is extremely powerful.

Do I need to continue? There are probably so many other similarities between them but I think you get the point. While Percy and Jason might be two faces the same coin,Nico and Percy are basically the same face.

All of the Big 3 children have similarities or have parallelism to each other: Thalia and Hazel (both come back from the dead and had to readjust to the years that passed, everything they know was now a distant memory); Jason and Bianca (both died when they were starting to figure out their life,after their memory loss); and there are others matches too: Thalia and Percy,Jason and Hazel,Jason and Nico,Bianca and Percy,Thalia and Nico,etc...

But Nico and Percy are just so similar to each other that sometimes it's hurt. They can't even have a good interaction most of the time because trauma is part of their relationship.

[missbehavior0u0]

See the thing about Eridan and Feferi is they are a bit like sharks and dolphins. One of them is a lovely little smiley creature that makes chittering noises and does tricks and is overall very anthropomorphizable, and the other is a big nasty biting thing that you wouldn’t want in your entourage. Meanwhile Feferi is a nice young lady with sentiments about social justice that appeal to Homestuck’s exclusively (as far as I know) non-Alternian audience and very adorable mannerisms, and the other one is Eridan.

But then expert scientists start taking a closer look at the two species and start to spot some discrepancies with the general idea of what they should be. It turns out dolphins do all kinds of nasty things (ie: premarital sex, stockbroking, pyromania) and sharks are actually big softies who wouldn’t hurt a fly when you aren’t dressed up as a seal or making sensationalist blockbuster movies about them.

Similarly, upon closer inspection you realize that maybe Feferi isn’t really all that nice or even necessarily respectful towards lowbloods (re: conversations with sollux, VrIska, Jade) and that Eridan, despite having adopted his worldview because it puts him in a socially acceptable position of power, might not buy into those ideas and isn’t quite so awful or as much of a lost cause as first impressions might have him seem (re: conversations with Karkat, Gamzee regarding Sollux, requests for faulty doomsday devices, etc).

So naturally you as the reader get very excited about all these developments and start wondering oh boy oh boy, where will the story push these characterizations next, given that it’s already managed to tell us so much with so little? Who will remain true to their ideology, and whose will crumble? And then Eridan goes and does that. Sad! Oh well, there’s other tools of a genocidal regime to unpack. Sometimes the shark really is just a big nasty biting thing, and there’s nothing sinister lurking beneath the dolphin’s adorable trick.

But you, understandably, are a little pissed off by all this. You were eager to see all the secret nice and nasty bits of these characters come to fruition, and as the reader you’ve been denied your delectable prize. Plus, it seems not everyone has caught on to how things could have gone. So in your analysis you push things a bit, maybe to bring them justice or to make things clearer. Dolphins are actually murderous rapists who delight in stealing candy from small children, while your average shark is on par with Mother Teresa. Feferi’s plans for societal rehabilitation were tantamount to genocide. Eridan Did Nothing Wrong. And so on.

However, it’s important to settle on a few things at the end of the day. Bits of nuance are usually intended to make characters more similar rather than push them further apart. It might be more helpful to see what those similarities are pointing to and analyze them on that basis. Eridan and Feferi are both troubled little soldiers of a fascist state positioned very close to its head. Similarly, when all’s said and done, sharks and dolphins are both large marine predators with very sharp teeth who humans would benefit from not getting close to.

[genericpuff]

look i know i've talked about it before but it was more from the angle of analyzing how this plotline could have been about persephone legitimately overthrowing hades, and not from the angle of how this one scene completely undermines all of rachel's manufactured attempts to "create a dialogue" about sexual assault and consent

and i'm specifically referring to THIS SCENE.

honestly hades is a toxic piece of shit himself who deserves jail for life but like. the tonal whiplash of this comic often has me feeling torn between "persephone is a victim of grooming who became what she once despised" and "persephone was actually always a deeply insecure and manipulative person and that's why she and hades get along so well" 💀😭 regardless of whichever conclusion you come to, neither of them are exactly indicative of a writer who really understands consent or healthy relationships, because despite whichever scenario makes the most sense, rachel still tried (and in many ways, succeeded) to convince her audience of girls and women alike that these two are healthy couple goals and that her extremely limited 10th grade understanding of consent and sexual health was "helping people"

and yes this further cements persephone as rachel's self-insert

because while she's gone on record to say she's never been sexually assaulted, she has admitted in interviews and social media posts to being in similar situations where her autonomy was being invaded upon

including a literal REAL LIFE STALKING SITUATION

like. that is an incredibly shitty and horrifying situation to be in. and i wanna make it clear, i'm not trying to use this against her in any way. this is something she didn't deserve to go through and reversely, does deserve to move on from.

i bring it up though precisely because it's incredibly telling that she, as a writer who claims she wants to use her platform as a means to "help people", is not capable of actually practicing what she preaches, and thus her characters aren't capable of doing that either. she's still exhibiting and glorifying behaviors and traits that align with the people who have harmed her, because HADES LITERALLY FUCKING STALKS PERSEPHONE AND IT'S PLAYED UP FOR COMEDY-

THIS SHIT WAS IN THE PILOT VERSION OF THE COMIC TOO, BEFORE IT WAS EVER AN ORIGINALS SERIES. HADES HAS ALWAYS BEEN WRITTEN LIKE THIS AND IT'S ALWAYS BEEN ROMANTICIZED AND PLAYED UP FOR GAGS.

LIKE I'M SORRY, IS THE "DECONSTRUCTION" HERE JUST SUPPOSED TO BE RACHEL TURNING HER OWN TRAUMA INTO COMEDY INSTEAD OF GOING TO THERAPY ???

FUCK.

[yolkochan]

How @tigreblvnc Gains Engagement from Artists Without Proper Credit (19/2/25)

Helloo, it’s Yoko (@yolkochan), and I’m an artist in the bllkblr community. I believe in the importance of properly crediting creators, not just for ethical reasons but because artists deserve recognition for their work. 

Unfortunately, there are people who consistently repost artwork without giving artists proper credit, benefiting from the engagement while the original creators remain overlooked. This post highlights one such case—@tigreblvnc(Tetsuo/Suo)— who has repeatedly done this more times than I can count.

This problem has been recently brought to my attention by multiple people in this community. As a professional artist myself, I feel a responsibility to call out this pattern and raise awareness about why proper crediting matters. Despite knowing that I may lose some followers due to this post.

(20/2/25 Edit: @tigreblvnc has deleted his blog 5 hours after the release of this post. Sooo….)

I do not condone the harassment of anyone mentioned within this post.

@tigreblvnc is a well-known blogger in the Blue Lock Tumblr community, frequently analyzing characters like Michael Kaiser and reposting fanart. However, his repeated failure to properly credit artists has raised serious concerns. Instead of clearly naming artists in the captions, he relies on small, greyed-out “source” links that are easy to miss. As a result, he continues to gain thousands of likes and reblogs from art that isn’t his—without giving artists the recognition they deserve.

Below are multiple examples demonstrating this pattern.

Evidence of Improper Crediting

Examples of what someone would see when scrolling:

Link to post

Art by ogata69 on X

(underneath this post is literally another art repost lol) 2. Link to post

Art by asamashi288753 on X

Original posts: 1 2

3. Link to post

Art by asamashi288753 on X

Original posts: 1 2

4. Link to post

Art by ttioo14 on X

Original posts: 1 2 3

5. Link to post

Art by eppaya_okoge on X

The original posts of these artworks have been deleted.

This specific case is even more egregious since this artist doesn’t even allow reposts without permission.

In all of these screenshots, he posts their artwork without naming them in the caption.

The only credit is a small “source” text (greyed out as well) that is easy to miss when scrolling. (The link only goes to the profile, not the original post). This shows that this isn’t a one-time mistake but a repeated behavior over multiple posts, these are just a few examples from over 20+ similar instances. His top posts are almost all art reposts.

With at least 20+ instances, it’s hard to believe it’s purely accidental. 

Whether intentional or not, this kind of crediting prioritizes his own engagement over actually giving artists the recognition they deserve. If he genuinely didn’t realize, now he knows- and if he keeps doing it, that’s a choice.

Common concerns:

1. “He’s not making money off it, what’s the harm??”

Engagement is a form of profit. If his top posts are all art reposts, he’s gaining a following, likes, and influence off other people's work.

Engagement stays on his post, not the artist’s — when a repost gets thousands of likes while the original post goes unnoticed, the artist loses visibility and recognition.

2. “He did credit the artist, see? The source is right there!”

A hidden, greyed-out link isn’t real credit and  people won’t click the source - the link is small, greyed-out, and easy to miss while scrolling. If the artist’s name isn’t visible in the caption, many won’t bother checking. Proper credit means making the artist’s name visible and easily accessible. 

If people need to dig through tiny text to find the source, it’s not actual recognition—just plausible deniability.

On another note, he didn’t actually credit it himself, it was an automatic attachment by Tumblr which can be explained better here by @feathers-little-nest .

3.  “He’s just sharing art he likes! It’s not that deep.”

If he really liked and respected the art, he’d want people to find the artist.

Art reposting without proper credit is disrespectful because it reduces an artist’s work to engagement bait.

4. “Not everyone knows how to credit properly!”

Maybe once or twice, but after 20+ posts, he’s had plenty of time to learn.

5. “At least he’s not claiming the art as his own.”

That’s the bare minimum.

Also, multiple people have told me they thought that was his art due to the unclear credit, this can also be seen on the reblogs. And he doesn’t try to correct them.

Now you may be asking, how do I properly credit an artist then?

I will show you in the below examples, but on Tumblr (not cross-platform) I specifically encourage you to never repost someone’s work, just reblog the original post. Always check if the artists allow reposts in the first place in their bio and try to ask for permission before doing so.

Some basics are to mention the artist's name clearly in the caption and linking the original post.

Here’s 2 examples of how to properly credit an artist if you’re reposting them on a different platform.

1.

Art by @rokuii on Tumblr

(please support her!!💗💗)

2. Made by @sunriozz on (X/Tumblr)

also support her too! <3

End Note

This is not only a callout to him but also a callout to the many fanfic writers in this fandom who use fanart/fanedits in their fics (as a cover to grab attention, etc), and other art reposters in this fandom who use Pinterest without crediting the respective artists clearly in the post.

Suo’s repeated failure to credit artists properly is not just an oversight—it’s a pattern that prioritizes his own engagement over the visibility of the original creators. Whether intentional or not, this practice actively harms artists by preventing them from receiving the recognition and support they deserve. Please do not make the same mistakes as he did.

If he genuinely respects artists, he should:

Start clearly crediting artists in the captions, not just in hidden “source” links.

Retroactively update past posts with proper credit.

Refrain from reposting art unless he is willing to credit correctly or have permission from the artist.

There are other skeletons inside his closet and personal matters that I cannot publicly address, but they are worth considering. This post is also the reason why I haven’t been active in a while.

At the end of the day, artists deserve to be credited properly, not used for engagement. If you support artists, follow them directly, engage with their work, and avoid boosting repost accounts that don’t credit correctly.

[hellohiyoko]

(P:EG THEORY(IES) ABOUT ULYSSES)

Spoilers below

(THEORY) Ulysses Won't Be The Next Victim

After the first chapter of Project: Eden's Garden, many have speculated that Ulysses Wilhelm, the Ultimate Historian, will be the next victim to be murdered in the killing game.

At first, I was right on board. The signs are all there (He was very prominent in the first trial, he had a Rebuttal Showdown in the first chapter, and his overall character seems to suggest that he won't put up much of a fight), it's only natural to come to this conclusion.

Until, I came to a conclusion of my own.

If my username seems familiar (and you're not following me or a mutual or mine or anything lmao), you might remember the post I made about how obvious the first chapter killer and victim should have been (I remember it anyway, I get like for it every one to five business days lmao).

In the post above, I explained that by analyzing Eva Tsunaka's and Wolfgang Akire's names and animal motifs, their fates were made obvious to the audience.

Shortly after making that post, I researched the names of the surviving cast and their significance in the Bible in an attempt to find another hint. Not counting a few exceptions (Damon's nickname from Cassidy being Damo, an anagram for Adom aka Adam, Diana's name meaning heavenly and Kai's name being vaguely similar to Cain), I came up empty-handed.

Several months later, I'd revisit an old WIP of mine from an entirely different fandom: Percy Jackson. Long story short, when I was like 15, I came up with an idea for a next generation fic, but I couldn't think of a name for a set of twins by Percabeth. I then remembered that Odysseus was Athena's (the mother of Annabeth Chase) favorite hero, and looked for names similar to that for their children.

And I came across the name: Ulysses. Ulysses is Odysseus's name in the Latin variant of The Odyssey.

Suddenly the wheels started turning.

The Bible wasn't the only story with mortal characters interacting with omnipotent beings. In The Odyssey, Odysseus (or Ulysses) is guided by Athena, a virgin goddess of wisdom, strategy, and much more. Similarly to the cast of Project: Eden's Garden, many Greek gods have representative animals.

And Athena's animal is an owl, just like Ulysses Wilhelm.

If we're to assume that Ulysses's name will be an indicator of his fate in Project: Eden's Garden, this can mean one of two things.

He'll either live to the end and survive the peril and hardships of the killing game, much like his namesake...

Or, he'll commit murder in an attempt to survive, similarly to his namesake as well.

Me personally, I'm suspecting now that Ulysses will be a murderer. I could see his inability to smell being the one last piece of evidence to damn him further, which Damon could use against his new rival, Diana, who would definitely argue that "someone like Ulysses couldn't have done it because he was so helpful last time".

Then again, the P:EG team could've predicted that someone would've thought of this and purposefully created Ulysses the way that they did to throw us off. I suppose only time will tell.

[lucksbucks]

riordanverse names part two: annabeth chase

part one

so this is basically a little series where I analyze riordanverse character names! meanings, connections to greek myths, why their parents might've named them that, etc. feel free to correct me on anything, and suggest more character names to analyze!

first name: annabeth is a combination of the elements "anna" and "beth", "anna" comes from "hannah" which means "favor" or "grace". "beth" comes from "elizabeth", which means "my god is an oath", this could be a reference to annabeth's devotion and respect for the gods, in contrast to percy's repeated impertinence towards them. i don't believe we're ever given an in-universe reason for her name, but i think rick's reason was that "beth" is similar to "becky"(his wife's name), and percabeth is heavily based on their relationship. "annabeth" could also be seen as similar to the greek hero atalanta, who was also abandoned by her father and had to fend for herself in the wild. last name: "chase" is an old english surname which refers to someone who is exceptionally good at hunting. this could reference her brief consideration of joining the hunt, her skill at defeating monsters, or the fact that she was chased out of her home by monsters. it can also be seen as a reference to atalanta's hunting prowess.

i personally headcannon her middle name begins with a b so her initials are abc(and so she can match with percy)

[maxthesillyy]

yeah im trying to be civil about this considering. i mean one. it doesnt really matter and two. nobody actually enjoys arguing online 😭 im trying to make this as not-an-argument as possible. although i do have some more points to say.

When you brought up how “Nathan didn’t ACTUALLY kill Rachel because he’s surprised to see what he thought was Rachel” I think this could be a SUPPORTING point on why Nathan didn’t kill Rachel, but definitely not a proving point as you use it here.

Max has very similar build to Rachel, and not only does Nathan see just the clothes at first, but it’s still possible to be genuinely surprised at first to see someone you thought you killed. Especially when you deal with all of Nathan’s issues. It doesn’t prove anything.

Plus, regardless of this, Jefferson himself said Nathan overdosed Rachel. Nathan killed Rachel bottom line— on purpose or not.

Continuing on that, for discussion sake, Jefferson also says that Nathan did it an attempt to mimic what Jefferson was doing.

Of course, this could be because of his inflated ego or because of how lowly he views Nathan, but we also know that Nathan was desperate to get approval from his “father figure.” The idea of Nathan “handling” and photographing Rachel when Jefferson was away, or even having done it all by himself (I have an upcoming post about this idea to elaborate if you’re interested. Not making it just because of this, but more of just analyzing for analyzing’s sake), to try and gain his approval really isn’t far fetched at all.

The only thing I can think of that could go against this (Nathan trying to follow in Jefferson’s footsteps + Killing Rachel) was when Nathan said he didn’t WANT to hurt her in his voicemail. However, not only does “not want to” not equal “didn’t at all.” But it’s also honestly just really hard to just take his word for it in general.

Now, I’m heavily paraphrasing off another user (arcadiabaytornado) here when I say this, but I really agree with it: Nathan only confesses to what he did when Jefferson is coming for him— or, in the Sacrifice Chloe ending, when he’s arrested for her murder— He only decides to confess when he’s beyond screwed. He waited until he was in such deep shit that the consequences of his actions no longer mattered. It’s hard to believe he really felt THAT sorry about it when he only waits until it doesn’t affect anything anymore.

I honestly could go on and on about this one topic but this isn’t really the point, and I want to mention your next point.

You say Nathan’s eyes are dilated like it’s a fact but, with the art style, it’s definitely not that clear.

The photo and a close up for reference:

His eyes do look a bit odd but that could either EASILY be attributed to the art style, or by just the fact that it was pitch dark outside and the flash of the camera caught Nathan’s naturally-dilated-to-see-in-the-dark eyes.

Or maybe even that it was decided by one or both of them to get Nathan on some drugs for the photoshoot to make it more realistic— Or maybe even Nathan took some drugs after he overdosed Rachel as he was rightfully freaking out. Or maybe Jefferson edited it in later on.

I’m just trying to say you should’t see one little detail or possibility and decide to make a fact out of it.

Loose strings is an understatement here. There’s almost a million different things all of these could mean. What you said is more of just your own speculation or even headcanons. Which is fine, truly, but you’re calling them straight facts and telling me to get educated.

I do agree Nathan is a well written character and does go into the darker side of mental health, but he’s also a character about privilege and the nuances of bad people.

I understand you might find comfort in your interpretation of Nathan, and I think that’s fine— good even— but not so much when you’re stating your own speculations as pure facts.

DONT FW NATHAN DEFENDERS 😱… they dont even know the character theyre defending

[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 woman on the street.

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 becomes their Forgemaster, 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 :) )

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 Devil 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."

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...

[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.

[volfoss]

it is beyond infuriating how anne rice seems to insist on marius being a positive force in anyone's life ever. like she can't fully commit to exploring the fact he groomed armand and has repeatedly taken away his consent for what marius thinks is best (take the end of TVA as an example) and just kind of flatly puts it in the narrative. there's not really much interest in how these horrific events make marius come across as the worst because EVERYONE loves him. for gods sake, lestat learns from armand exactly what marius did to him in TVL and then proceeds to go find marius and be super friendly to him in the same fucking book. even armand and pandora, two of the people who have MORE than enough right to hate him, do not. it doesnt feel like shes trying to explore the toxicity of the abusive dynamic he traps them in, it just is there. and like yeah ofc the toxic vampire romance series but i think that this should be handled with more care. and it is not ever really framed in a way that she is interested in exploring how marius should easily be one of the most horrific characters in this series because it kind of feels like sa/rape/grooming/other things of that sort are just put there to further plot and not to really get the respect that they deserve in a medium.