#supposed to be able to blend in with humans but she really doesnt

[vancilart]

time to get white girl wasted

[antiloreolympus]

10 Anti LO Asks

1. I wish Rachel hasn’t used the gods to create the comic but rather turned them into human OCs. The fact that they’re rich, immortal and attractive make the stakes so damn low we don’t even have anything to genuinely fret over narrative wise.

2. WAIT I HAVENT READ LORE OLYMPUS IN A WHILE BUT DID SHE REALLY MAKE APOLLO THE SUN GOD?! STRAIGHT UP IGNORING HELIOS THE ACTUAL SUN GOD?????? How could Rachel say she did research and still choose to incorporate one of the biggest misinformations about Greek Mythos.

Look I don’t want poor Helios to be seen in Lore Olympus style if he hasn’t yet, but that’s such a simple thing to get wrong.

From OP: Both of them are still sun gods, the main issue is that RS also made Leto a sun goddess for some reason.

3. im sorry but the only distinguishing factors between literal gods and humans is that the gods are neon colors and thats it is so dumb?? like what about demi gods? how about exceptional mortals? like how can anyone compare psyche to a goddess then if shes not neon colored? also theres a ton of myths where gods are easily able to blend in with humans without changing anything because they are supposed to look like them, so how can they do that if humans are normal skin tones but the rest are neon?

4. I honestly feel like a big part of why LO is so bad is it's just way, WAY too long. The first few episodes were fast paced and kept you interested, but once it really pocked up on popularity you can see Rachel just started stretching everything out and dragged it back to a snail's pace. I'm all for a slow burn, but that shouldn't for the readers. If it was this long and there were months/years of progress in story I would excuse it, not at most a month in all this time. It's exhausting to read.

5. ok but why do even the humans in lo look so wonky? idk i think her more early abstractions with human forms was really so much better than this more realistic but also more cartoony look, it just doesnt mesh well. sure its technically cleaner looking but it starts to show the many flaws in the art than the previous look didn't. in the early look you could excuse it as coherent stylization, in this current look it just looks like rachel and her team either are very lazy, cant draw, or both.

6. also the disney hercules movie 1) never claims its myth accurate but also 2) its still just a fun movie?? LO in comparison is a self righteous slog that thinks its reinventing the wheel and is more legitimate than the actual texts all while being so wrong its not even"myth fanfic", its just a completely different story with greek names slapped on it for marketing. disney also had the good sense to not make the whole story about a dark topic, meanwhile LO is milking R//PE for a creepy romance.

7. ngl im even surprised rachel would even call hades anything zeus related because she seems so vindictive against anyone who isnt hades/persephone/hera that i would have thought she would make a point to say zeus would rather be be called "light hades" or w/e.

8. Omfg I just realized Hestia and Athena are an incestuous couple. Hestia is Hera's sister and Athena is Hera's and Zeus' daughter. Hestia is literally dating her niece. So the only non-stright couple in LO is incest. I just... how do fail this fucking badly at represenation?

Also, bc I know someone is gonna say it: Yes, incest was pretty much par for the course in Greek mythology, but in LO Rachel seems to actively want to avoid that particular aspect (which is understandable). Zeus and Persephone were orginally biological niece and uncle as well, since Persephone was the daughter of either Zeus or Poseidon and Demeter, but in LO this is retconned into Demeter making Persephone herself without a father being involved, making HxP still sketchy but not blood-related at least.

The Hestia and Athena-situation seems like a comedic mistake RS made. She hastily threw together two same-gender characters to counteract the accusations of homophobia and straightwashing and it just... backfired in the most hilarious possible way.

From OP: Athena and Hestia aren’t technically related in LO but it’s still really odd that Demeter, Hera, and Hestia come from Metis but have no relation at all to her other than she created them. Like, you’d think even Metis’ power would connect them in someway but I guess not. The three even used sisters to refer to each other (although, it was only retconned once and left in the other time) so I still their (Athena and Hestia’s) relationship weird.

9. This isnt just an LO thing but it's ironic Rachel is in that group of WT creators who went to art school and yet have some of the most subpar art i've ever seen, meanwhile the self-taught creators who went to school for medicine, engineering, comms, etc all have some of the most beautiful art i've seen in a webcomic. Anyway LO stans have to stop using the "she went to art school" excuse since it'd pretty clear she's not the only example where art degree =/= good art.

10. ok now im a bit sus about about the LO stats and tbh every other original bc i just saw an original creator say the actual numbers (esp for popular series) are all overinflated by porn and spam bots and webtoons wont get rid of them to make it look like they have more engagement and market them as more successful than they let on💀getting real tumblr will ban boobs but not the n//zi blogs energy from that info ngl

[unproduciblesmackdown]

and now for something completely different

last night i was thinking like....princess tutu......isn’t it neat that the the blade of mytho’s sword turns into two swans made of light when it’s shattered & i think the swans come back to reform his sword when he summons it again at the end there, spoilers in this post i suppose but who cares. here’s a read more to save everyone from yet another long text post on their tl

also here’s a screencap i have sitting around. swan magic....everyone has swan feathers in their design........,hm

and also at the end you have the apparent reapparance of tutu as a giant swan made out of light? as that’s apparently what she looks like to other people outside the “story” of her manifestations? i forget. didnt people say it looked like a giant swan when everyone was bystanding mytho going out the window that second time. augh its difficult to speculate abt things when lil details of the Lore are so like blink and you miss it sometimes! sigh!

anyways what it all got me wondering is what we can figure out about Original Tutu (aka the being from the story who vanished into light) vs Ahiru Tutu (aka the one who’s actually a girl who’s actually a duck who was given the power to transform using a piece of the prince’s heart for the purpose of advancing the story by returning the prince’s heart to him, & intended to have to disappear whether by failing or succeeding really) vs mytho

like does OT even look anything like AT? i suppose so because mytho seemingly recognizes her even without his memories. But Also if he had some of the pieces of his heart back when he began to consider her familiar, it could just be that he thus had incomplete memories. or it could just be that prior to having Any emotions at all, he wouldn’t have any reason to be at all interested in the fact that he does recognize her. or maybe he could recognize her even without a heart, because it’s too inherent to him, like how he retains the instinct to protect the weak to a self-destructive point? i don’t remember when exactly he starts to express that she seems familiar to him vs just asking who she is.

its a confusing too coz its like does AT look more like ahiru or is ahiru’s human form just a slight alteration of the OT look? coz ahiru’s real appearance is just a duck so her human form could be made to look like anybody. and i suppose like “nonmagical form of the original tutu who could blend in with the people around the prince and also i guess ahiru is a juvenile duck if she’s yellow” could all be true. but also apparently i guess OT could also be a swan made out of light sometimes, or at least appear that way to others. plus is that OT appearing in the last episode due to uhhh maybe being able to be summoned by someone Using The Power Of Dance well enough or is that just residual tutu energy or what.......ambiguous i guess. i forget how that shit was narrated.

speaking of the ambiguity of that appearance, i’m always wondering abt where the essence of OT currently is? what her powers are? how she is linked to the prince’s magic or not? coz ok mytho has his own swan motif too. is it just a general “good guys get the swan visuals” thing? or is it maybe like specifically his link to OT? b/c i am also remembering that apparently mytho has a lifelong interest in OT, including when he loses his heart? right? im talking myself around to remembering what i just said i couldnt remember. doesnt fakir or someone say something abt mytho only expressing interest in tutu when hearing his own story. maybe when he was grown he was like “i’m going to have a swan theme ok”

but he still has his magic swan sword with a magic blade made out of swans of light. i don’t know how you obtain something like that. was there any material in the story that told how often he did or didnt interact w tutu before she disappeared? didnt it just say that tutu like only has that one mention in the story, that of when she disappears? and yet........isnt tutu mentioned to Young Mytho even outside of the scope of the story, in one of the “once upon a time there was” intros? i’m bad at this coz of how many little details i dont have sorted out...but i’m just wondering where he gets his magic swan sword from. if it is at all related to tutu or just another example of his own swan thing

coz im also thinking...i mean mytho DOES have a heart that is like his own magic essence item that is also like, a jewel. that’s kind of magical. do all the people in his story have that trait? is he not possibly slightly magic himself. he is, after all, inherently imbued with the same Protective Love To The Point Of Self Destruction quality as tutu mustve been to have apparently sacrificed herself for him to save him from the raven that one time. even though she did just vanish into a point of light, so the original tutu may not have been completely destroyed or whatever. or maybe that similarity is just why a magical being was so invested in this prince in the first place. even though the fact that he’s a good prince and she’s a good princess and it’s a fairy tale is justification enough

also why is it that ahiru’s ability to transform into tutu depends on her having the piece of mytho’s heart? we never really get the chance to figure out whether other pieces linked w other emotions wouldve given her the same ability, but it makes sense that it’s specifically the Hope shard that could turn her into tutu, since the OT appeared / declared her love / sacrificed herself to give the prince hope even though that’s kind of a bummer too but oh well. anyways it all kind of suggests that OT’s essence exists specifically within the physical manifestation of the prince’s capacity for hope. or maybe it’s just his concept of tutu being held mostly in the hope shard. but if its radiating certain abilities, it seems like it has to have some of her actual power to be able to give that. yanno according the laws of magic. also its like it even radiates the hope that the piece holds, as after the piece is returned to him, doesnt mytho say he recognizes the feeling as being what he most associates w tutu, despite how he shouldve been incapable of feeling hope w/o the Official Return of that piece? hm

anyways even after saying all of whatever shit i’ve been saying, mostly what i Ponder is what are OT’s powers vs what are mytho’s?? coz when mytho’s heart is restored he still has the same magic pink flower summoning ability as AT has been shown to have. so does he have that ability because maybe it’s another thing he gets from OT, like maybe possibly his sword, or did AT have that ability because she was using a piece of mytho’s heart & has some combo of OT’s magic as well as mytho’s? or is it that some of original tutu is actually retained in the Hope piece of mytho’s heart & it imbues him w some of her powers? or maybe they both read the same How To Do Magic book

imo the question of “does part or all of OT actually reside in that heart shard or not” is also relevant to how it’s never exactly clear that ahiru voluntarily summons the form of tutu, it just sort of happens when she needs to protect the prince? is it 100% drosselmeyer being like ok now would be a good time for tutu? is it the fact that the heart shard contains OT & thus also her desire to protect the prince? or is it still just ahiru’s own desire to save mytho since like that was the reason some random duck was given the role of tutu in the first place

still confused abt who caused the last appearance of tutu as a swan of light in the last ep...if it was ahiru still having some tutu energy that outlasted her proximity to the heart shard...if it was OT kinda being summoned....if it was the magic writing shit again......

well anyways the point is that there seems to be a kind of fusion of a piece of mytho’s heart w the essence of the original tutu and thus its a little blurry what’s mytho magic & what’s tutu magic. not exactly an urgent question but i’m always interested in the Lore of the characters as they are in The Story of the prince and the raven. That’s All

[probablyvampirerpgideas]

If it's not too much trouble , could I ask @blog owner to state ten things bryon and vician respectively love , and then ten things they hate ?

I absolutely love this question thank you so much :DWe'll start with Byron because this is their blog space after all.Ten things Byron Lovelace loves:-Old buildings. The more in tact and held together they are the better. Ruins are nice but old beautiful mansions with sculpting in the stonework is their ideal sort of building.-Gold leaf as a means of decoration. Hey, nothing says wealthy like a good ol' leather bound book trimmed with carefully placed gold leaf.-bats! Love thoss flying bastards!-cats!! But not in their house. Too many expensive things to break in there.-Antique furniture because it's all beautiful and reminds them of the sort of things they aspired to own as a child.-In the rare occasion they get to sit down and eat anything other than blood, they adore leek and potato soup. It feels and tastes like home and is a welcome reminder of their human life.-Aesthetically pleasing people. As far as love goes as an aroace person, they adore being around and looking at pretty people because it's almost like an aspirational "I want to be like you!" Sort of thing-Tea! Loose leaf tea of unique and exotic blend!-Lace. Lace on clothes, lace on furniture, lace as decoration, Byron just loves that lace!-old cheesy romance novels because they know they're absolute trash but it's so much fun to just read and be able to predict precitable plots.Ten things Byron Lovelace hates:-the sun. That goes without saying.-they really dislike contrasting colours. They do not go well, they aren't aesthetically pleasing at all! Get that purple away from that yellow!!-infact anything that purposely tries to be unpleasing to ths eye either for ~shock value~ or to purposely throw one off their senses are Bad in Byron's books.-loud noises. This goes beyond a mere ahout this is things like motorbikes revving up and punt guns going off in the distance.-they hate the smell of wild garlic. From what they remember of their childhood their home was by or in a forest, and that forest grew wild garlic every sodding year of their life and the smell is just nautiating to them-infact they also really hate cinnamon, but they don't eat much human food as it is so this is no longer and issue for them.-public transport. Byron alwayd either traveled by foot or by a peivate carriage or car, when public bus services first started up the really didnt like them.-they do not like being asked questions quite personal to them beyond their flamboyant pretty-thing-loving persona. -heights. Whats this? A vampire who could fly through magical abilities that doesnt like heights? Good thing turning into a bat is optional!-dont you dare ask them to speak welsh when they're trying to sound english they will bite u Things Vician Carter loves:-His clothes. His entire wadrobe is comprised of two hundred years odd of the development of his identity and he loves being able to wear so many unique clothes.-Being able to help other people. Not just in a "I helped you with this chore" sort of way but being able to give advice, to boost people's confidence, to answer questiond and help people learn- that's what makes him very happy.-in terms of his past partners? The most his relationships go into are queerplatonic relationships, so in terms of the people he was closest to in that regard, Gerald and Caron are the closest to his heart.-Peacocks. They mean quite a bit to him symbolically but also they are just very beautiful birds.-Vician loves dogs aswell, but never got to own one as a child. He can't get enough of his current dog, a white borzoi named Blanca.-sweets! Cakes! Pastries! Vician is supposed go be a dignified and grown up lord but he can't help but get excited about sweets-He loves queer litterature, and the further away from home it was written the better, he is so in love with queer history and the experiences of lgbtqia+ people from arounf the world because he already contributes so much of his past, he loves learning more about people-infacf people in general are just Very Good to him. He loves people because people are so much fun to be around.-Looking after his appearance. As vain as that might sound he spent such a long time uhming and aahing about what he should and shouldn't do with his general appearance and it took him so long to learn that none of that matters and that he should do what feels right for him. He's allowed to do something that makes him feel handsome and pretty and he loves that.-Vician loves peaceful moments, moments that may not last long but allow him to absorb evrything around him in a possible way, he needs to be able to be calm because his life is so hectic. And so when he does feel peaceful it makes him very happy.Ten theings Vician Carter hates:-Jean. Without a doubt, Jean Ankerburough is THE worst thing that ever happened to him. He hates him with all of his being, words can not describe how evil that man is.-James Carter. This is Vician's uncle, also an absolute asshole who Vician had every reason to hate.-Infact as much as he greatly appreciates the 19th century aesthetics he hated living up in that time. He hated victorian society, he hates how people romanticize this era as a beautiful and dapper time.-He hates getting ill. Not to go into too much detail but he blames illness as a factor for a terrible thing happening to him, so whenever he displays symptons if a cold or flu he immediatdly panics.-whoever the fuck bit him. He never actually knes their name or face well enough to identify them.-he hates that we haven't done enough yey a society in so many areas it would be a whole list it's self to discuss.-i wanna make a specific mention about how much he hayes the 50 shades books. Because he'd very open about his sex life to his friends when this book suposedly about bdsm comes out, that's the only book he was given for like half a year by different people. And he tried fo read it, he really did, but so much of it made him feel so unwell he just couldn't go on. -Vician hates the casual sort of misunderstanding of a lot of things linked to his identity and self. When he over hears ppl misusing words or repeating harmful stereotypes as jokes or as fact it makes his blood boil.-Vician hates being alone. Not in an "everyone MUST pay attention to me all the time!" Way but more of a "I don't like it when I'm around people who won't understand my issues" way. -he hates Sarah, she was like a business partner of his in the modern era who directly caused harm to himself and Caron, his parter, so she's up there with the List of Bad People.

[kosmicdream]

hi i just discovered your webcomic !! i very much love it a lot and i was wondering if yo could maybe clear up the worm's anatomy ? cuz like, one minute they have boobs except its referred to as a he and then it has a dick but its still a queen ? don't get me wrong its insanely cool but if you would be so kind as to enlighten me on the subject it would be very much appreciated !! keep up the good work !!

I’ve been getting a lot of new readers and I think its been a while since i’ve gotten questions about this, so I suppose I don’t mind recirculating some information again. Hopefully i can cover a little bit more of the deeper nuances about worms and their relationship to gender/sex/pronouns that i haven’t talked about before. Its best to keep in mind that pronouns and also body parts (genitals/breasts, ect) arent always indicative of gender or sex. I think this is safe to say this is true for.. even outside of my story.

**SOME SPOILERS BELOW IF YOU HAVENT READ THE ENTIRE COMIC... SORRY I RAMBLED***

Anyway-- In the case of hydragora worms (which ill focus on as they are the ones with the king/queens classifications), their pronouns are not even exactly related to their genders or sex at all! but rather the type of ‘class’ of worm they are. Technically, all worms are able to lay eggs and also fertilize them. there are no “girl” or “boy” worm. Sometimes their rituals with how this process happens are different depending on what kind of worm they are, but they are all able to shape-shift their bodies to look how they want-- well, based on what they eat-- so body parts like boobs and genitals are really just accessories. For some worms, they’re important parts of their body that help make them comfortable, for others they couldnt give a fuck about what is swinging around. it really depends on the individual. Worms can mate without even having any visible genitals just as long as they squirm around in the necessary fun fluids with some sort of .. open.. orifice to absorb it with.... worm sex can be real damn freaky i wont get into it rn.

Back to the pronouns though. What does it mean??? Well, Kings do not actually mean male and Queens do not mean female..Even though we humans generally associate these pronouns/words with male and female! To make it as simple as i can, I try to explain or ask others to think of it like..Kings (he/him) - Typical characteristics: Lazy, Important, Need to be worshipped and protected. Very sexually appealing. Also have mysterious powers. Often have little weird crowns.Queens (she/her) - Characteristics: generally very large, can regenerate, specifically hunt down kings to kill them. Super strong. Generally have cool looking tails for some reason. Very colorful because that is useful for intimidation and showing off how strong they are.Regular worms: want to worship kings + protect them, also desire to become knights. technically speaking-- i would say that the lack of pronouns is the most ‘suitable’ pronoun to describe them. some even casually adopt he/she/they pronouns but usually in the space of interacting with other species. anyway, they’re loyal and subservient. knight worms: the special king-appointed upgrade of regular worms, they often adopt he/him pronouns through this process but it is reflective of their close bond with their king. (the very simple format is thinking the three basic worm genders as LAZY, MURDER and WORSHIP.)

*ok more specific character spoilrs below YOUUUVE BEEN WARNNNED IM WARNING YOOOU ok done warning**

Some worms break from this system and try to reinvent or reinterpret pronouns for their own while still interacting with worm culture/society. A couple examples of worms that do this are Agent Paper and Nail. (although really, its hard to think what worm character in ffak does not do this lol) Paper is a woman wishes to be viewed/treated as a woman by ANY species she interacts with. But! this doesnt mean she identifies as being a queen worm however- even tho she uses she/her pronouns. She just is a female worm. That identity is important to her even if, for a worm, it is far more ‘binary’ way of thinking than worms typically exhibit. Other worms will probably view her as a wanna-be-human or close minded. But just because the majority of worms are very fluid in many aspects of their gender/bodies/identity/sexuality doesn’t mean paper has to conform to this fluidity as well. The idea of a ‘Binary Gender’ for worms is typically very confusing (or an example of someone who is misinformed) to those who understand that worms generally do not adhere to a binary system. Especially for a worm who is NOT trying to disguise themselves as a human and integrate with human society (Aka, like Dylan who mostly interacts with humans and generally tries to remove herself from worm culture/society completely. Dylan does not even WANT to be considered a worm while paper still LOVES being a worm and associating herself with worms. shes just a woman worm. dylan is a woman. just not a worm woman. she will begrudgingly accept she is still technically a worm, but the identity of woman is less important to her and is more just the default of being viewed as a cis lady by humans and dylan is like ‘yeah whatevs’.)Nail is a queen worm, which typically have she/her pronouns, but he goes by he/him pronouns and also is fairly assertive of that. However, this doesnt mean he is a man or wishes to be viewed a ‘Man’ or ‘Male' (specifically) or even as a “King.” its more like... his own interpretation of what he/him means, which is about authority, dominance and most importantly: power. If he would pick a ‘binary gender sort of thing’ (while rolling his eyes bc he thinks its stupid while also thinking its important enough to get annoyed at when people dont respect his pronouns) he would pick being a man and would vehemently reject being viewed as a woman, but in a more deeper level that is not actually how he sees his he/him pronouns as a man thing. (even between being NB/male/female he would still pick man because that just seems ‘direct to the point.’ and satisfying) He also generally rejects the label of Queen worm too, but will begrudgingly or unenthusiastically accept that he is one. He is also considered an ‘odd’ queen because he is very small in stature and generally has muted colors of browns/tans instead of flashy ones. He has been teased at this too that he wasnt QUEEN enough by being so small and puny lmao.

To backtrack a little, As worms integrate with human society, or even hekatons (which that species also mimics a lot of human society), they will often adopt the ideology and system of how pronouns are used. Or at least, will be forced to process how other species will view them based on the shared language of using the same words, despite it meaning many different things... to not only groups of people but also on the individual level. I think thats an important thing to consider that there are many different dynamics, interpretations and journeys interacting all at once and influencing each other and are constantly evolving and branching out. Even the lines between what is a king/queen/other worms really ARE is blurry because its all on a spectrum of.. various physical characteristics and behaviors.

And to go into EVOLUTION and BLURRY LINES... As we can see with a worm like, Jacket for example... while he is specifically NOT a king, he is also more like a unique blend of features from queens/regular worms and also knights. because he WANTS to be a knight he already uses he/him pronouns despite not actually having a king already and hasnt even gone through the specific knighting process. Jacket sees He/him as words that mean total loyalty to the king. Whoever the king is. And if someone were to try to put him in a specific box of queen/king/knight/regular worm they would be unable to place him b/c he is something else unique entirely. and while jacket uses he/him pronouns i think at the core of it he literally does not give a fuck about language at all, or genders, or labels. those are all nonsense things. he relies only on instinct and desire.

Phew. ok I could ramble on and describe every one of my worm characters, but I’ll leave it at there for now. Crimson is even more confusing bc she is a fucking hybrid human/mandragora worm, using a goddamn hydragora body, and has like 2 other clone heart selves and all this other fucking bullshit. i have been writing this for like an hour. lmao

I hope some of this is communicates at least, its a little difficult to orchestrate and articulate all the levels operating here at once in a simple-to-digest manner. the fun thing about ffak at least is that if you dont want to think about this stuff you dont really have to--although id think it enriches the experience a bit.

[substantiating-shadows]

Yes. Totally agree with everything you said. I think its important to remember that Neil was raised to completely deny himself the desires of like his human nature?

Like even though Andrew and Renee had terrible childhoods too, they had a chance to form relationships. There was abuse but there was also learning what could be good based on what they knew was bad. And even just watching others and being able to want something better for themselves even if in the deepest heart of hearts. And Andrew had the hope of Cass and a brother and cousin to protect later on and Renee had working relationships at the very least and then her adoptive mom.

But like - Neil didnt only have no one. He had nothing, no bad or good relationships. Just nothing. He was literally raised first under intense abuse in his early childhood and then not just taught but conditioned by his mother to deny himself any desire for intimacy. She literally did not let him learn how to trust. And like i think he loved his mother like any child loves their caretaker, because she was always there and she was his mother - but I also think she doesnt count as someone he trusted because he was just a kid and like he says, he didnt talk to her about anything- she was basically just giving orders and he followed bc he didnt know anything else?

And thats also why I think he’s so terrible about like the scale of things? Like really extreme in what he does. He’s like, well I care about a single thing -Exy- guess I’ll just die for it now? And then he’s like, well Kevin might as well live if I’m not gonna, bc a memory of a small hope of friendship he had as a 10 year old is the closest thing he has ever had to true human connection up to that point in tfc. Just the memory of wanting a friend is enough for him to abandon everything he’s ever known.

And when he has that conversation with Nicky about love and he’s like ‘Exy wont love you back’, Neil’s just like “So?” He’s never been loved, and so just feeling a small measure of happiness is enough for him. And Andrew calls him out on this; like he really does a 180 and turns into a martyr where he was only weeks before gonna run like the coward he was raised to be, but isnt. He’s just like- well I chose this, so if tourture and death’s the price, it was still worth it.

He just seems so like - inverted to me. He is more comfortable lying than telling the truth and he’s a pathological liar bc he was taught how to lie in the same breathe as how to communicate, those are the same thing to him? He has to learn to tell the truth where most people learn how to lie.

And he was raised believing that running and hiding were the equivalent of a life. He has no preferences that are his own? Everything is about blending in, his 'favorite’ color is grey for fucks sake, and its like he blends in well bc he’s observant and clever– so he knows how to behave just enough to seem normal as long as you dont look too closely or spend too much time considering him. He’s always acting like a real (normal) person bc being himself is too off putting except for Andrew.

And he is such a fucking weirdo, you know? Like he just goes blank at any sort of decency/attention/or kindness shown him. Its like he doesnt think those can be a real thing. Theres this dissonance between knowing that interpersonal relationships are a thing that people have, and him being able to have them. When Nicky calls him a “friend” and he’s just like “… is this friendship?” He gives him a gift and he’s just like… blankness. It just doesnt occur to him that people will consider him a real person like they are, unless its in the context of threats and power plays and violence. Which like man is he good at manipulation when he wants to be.

That “doesnt mean I wouldnt blow you” scene I kind of imagine that Andrew was waiting for Neil to say something to reject or give him hope. But Neil just kind of again goes blank, and is just like “He wasn’t supposed to be this for anyone, Andrew least of all… Neil shouldn’t be the exception to that rule.” I think anybody else would right away ask themseves how they felt about 'being liked’ but Neil’s still stuck on how impossible it is for him to be a person someone would like. And not just anyone, but Andrew.

I feel like his whole journey is about him experiencing life and substantial emotions for the first time and then learning how to want things for himself. Internalizing that he is capable of human connection.

And thats why Andrew appeals to him so much, they speak the same language. They both cut through the bullshit of 'normalcy’ and can see truer things than that? Niel like immediately knows why Andrew killed Aaron’s mother. It’s just so clear to him, because he can understand it. Wheras even the other Foxes have the knee jerk reaction of anyone raised to balk at murder as immediatly taboo. Neil doesnt even flich, and its not because he’s a bad person or a forgiving one. He simply lives in a world where death and pain are realer to him than anything else. “My first memories are of people dying.”

And Andrew has such clear beliefs about things. Promises and truths and such. I think since Neil has had no core purpose up to then, he hasnt been given a chance to believe in anything – Andrew’s immovable conviction in things is what Neil locks onto.

And then like the second he starts to feel things for people, just him saying that this is the first time he’s really experienced guilt is so powerful. Because he’s not cold and detached because he was made that way after years of experience, trusting and then being betrayed (like Andrew), he’s just never known anything about trust.

And so this little family he’s walked in to– he’s like ready to die for them after just a few months because its the first time he’s really known people. And he also doesnt have it in him to pity anyone becaue he doesnt know how to pity, he never feels sorry for himself, really. He gets angry about the injustice and jealous of Kevins potential future, but its just for a moment and even then he doesnt really resent him for it.

I think everyone (the characters but also like the audience) locks onto Andrew as something so other, but I would argue that Neil’s the stranger of the two. Because he’s just this blank sort of person who’s basically learning who he is and what he believes in during what he thinks are his last months to live? And he’s having to convice himself that he’s allowed to participate in the world for the first time, in other peoples lives.

And I think that what Andrew is drawn to is that Neil just like gets him, he understands. Andrew doesnt need anyone to understand, he really doesnt care what others think or even if his family knows why he does things. But then comes this boy who is a bundle of contradictions and guiltless lies and he really sees him, he understands his motivations and his actions.

But at the same time is so maddeningly stupid that he cant even figure out that he Andrew’s intersted in him until he spells it out for him.

And in the same way that Neil didnt know that trust and connecting with another person could feel so real, Andrew had given up hoping someone would see him. Aaron didnt believe his promises and Nicky is still so blindly hopefull but both still treat him like he’s just a little too wild. And then Neil just isnt afraid of him, and at first he thinks its because he’s stupid and will learn to fear him.

And like Renee is also interesting bc I think she doesnt fear him either, but becaue she can take him on. Which is a good equals relationship. But Neil doesnt fear him bc he understands how he thinks and he first senses and then really has clear that Andrew isnt actually crazy, their truths are just more pure and less bogged down by “assumptions and bias” (like Andrew says of Wymack - “he sees things as they are”) but Neil sees him as he is.

When Andrew goes for Allison, and Neil stops him because he doesnt want her hurt but also bc he knows if he hurts her-- it will be bad for Andrew as well. Even if Andrew doesnt care about himself, Neil does. And then Matt tried to get Neil to tell him what he said, but Neil as much as he doesnt want anyone hurt- he understands why Andrew did what he did. "Dont let it happen again." And theres this kind of assumption that Neil can 'control' Andrew "your pet-psycho" "he can. Why cant you?" "Youre my best chance at getting through to him" but Andrew isnt this irrational psycho who only listens to Neil. It only looks that way bc Neil and Andrew can really understand each other, and while Neil is persuasive and Andrew concedes to him often; he's not beholden to Neil. Neil just gets him enough to be his equal and he gives as much as he gets in their ongoing interactions. Its just because everyone has already written Andrew off that they cant believe Neil "I asked." Josten is really just talking to him.

The line that always gets me is the “dont look at me like that” because its obviouly about Neil looking at Andrew like he loves him. But i also think that its just about Andrew feeling really seen clearly for the first time by anyone. Not just “dont look at me like that” but “dont look at the real me” bc what is he supposed to do with that?

And oh my god; im so sorry for this painfully long essay. I just feel so much for them as a pair bc its just so terribly beautiful and complex.

warning: rambly andreil speedbump ahead

i think it’s interesting how subconsciously intrigued by andrew neil was in the first two books though, i mean he wasn’t even interested in learning his teammates’ favourite colors and catalogued any information he learnt about them as redundant considering his predicament but whenever it came to andrew, boy was pretty much inclined to plan his biography. i think there was this strange gravitational pull he felt towards andrew, even before andrew’s famous “blow you” comment. throughout the books, he saw andrew as this complete separate entity, a pariah in the midst of sheep, almost. just like him. maybe he recognized that strangeness in him from day one. he found his curiosity blooming enough that he seemed unnecessarily interested in whether or not renee and andrew were actually a thing, he found his mind wandering after he found out about andrew’s sexuality, he was as honest as an ingrained liar like him could ever be to andrew. that’s why this line always gets to me: andrew nodded in the face of it and told him to stay, he stood his ground when neil asked him for murder and gave him a key to his house, but that didn’t count, because andrew was andrew and this was definitely the last turn he wanted his thoughts to take. i think neil was surprised by andrew, bc i’m pretty sure neil had given up ever expecting a normal person to even remotely comprehend his cosmic joke of a life. but then there’s andrew, who offers him his protection and his compliance, andrew who could watch him fall apart and sit there, still as a rock and yet, consoling in his silence and in his lack of concern. bc with everyone else it’s kind of like an overdose of concern, which anyone who’s ever experienced anything traumatic will tell you, doesn’t help. neil didn’t want anyone’s pity, he didn’t want baseless apologies. he just wanted to carry on with a life that was constantly being snatched from his grasp. it just fucks me up because?? this is probably the first meaningful connection with another human being neil’s ever had? asides from his mother, who’s questionable parenting probably doesn’t even count. because neil was never allowed to have friends or girlfriends like a normal teenage boy. because neil was always hopping from one alien rathole to the next. because neil had grown up detached from the world that surrounded him, and lonely, and maybe the fact that andrew, apathetic and equally disengaged from the world, was giving him his back and talking trust & promises, words that to someone like neil, who’d spent his whole life being deceitful and getting deceived, probably carried the weight of the fucking sun and, fuck. i could go on but i need to get some sleep. it’s so pure just. i’m not sure this had a point. the point is!! this ship slays my entire crumbling being!!!

[tumblunni]

Hmm thinking more about that old idea i had about one of those armybuilding strategy game things except you play as an alien virus invading earth. Make ur resources out of le peoples! Itd be kinda like splatoon crossed with..like..that card game in ff9? Flip a tile to your colour by defeating a human battalion, and get combos if other ones line up right. (Representing monsterified soldiers infecting their comrades) And then also once a tile is captured itd slowly gain resource points to represent being terraformed by the virus, with a funky visual change when its finished. You can spawn new units from these completed strongholds, without having to infect human bodies. (But these infinate access minions would be weaker to balance the gameplay)

Oh and also the virus hivemind's personality is a very cheerful and goofy mom figure who doesnt understand that what theyre doing is wrong. Just very lonely and wants to help everyone by bringing them into the hive. And doesnt really know how humans work so they end up as twisted monstrosities. Maybe represnet that in gameplay by infected units evolving after taking enough damage? Like the kind alien friend is trying to fix their lil buddies but only knows how their own biology works and not humans. So they do become stronger every time they get repaired, but they also get more beserk and dangerous.

Oh and also maybe have some special units who are people with a strong enough will to maintain some degree of personality within the virus hive? And they could be unkillable because that mind continues to resurface even when its body is destroyed, and can be rehoused in a new shell for the next fight. And then maybe by using one of them a lot and levelling it up youd be able to see visions of their human memories. And seeing all of these and forming attatchment with these people would help the virus understand the morality of what its doing, and maybe ultimately be potentially redeemable.

Oh and also your tutorial character would be "this one". A lil girl who was the first virus infectee, so her conciousness remains the most distinct within your collective. Her personality is very stoic and serious and more of what you'd expect from an evil virus, often being the rational voice to our protagonist's goofy "IM WANNA BE FREMDS BY ZOMBIEING THE ALL" nonsense. She also maintains a relatively humanoid shape compared to other "general" type units, since the virus is keeping this personality separate as a way of learning about humans. It also comes in handy to trick humans (which is usually the girl's idea cos the virus isnt really smart enough) Oh and she only calls herself "this one", as in "i'm just one of many bodies you assimilated, why would you need to know what name i used to have?" I think that kinda technically she's the cause of this whole catastrophe. She acts so emotionless and eager to give up her humanity because she was severely depressed at the time she met that "falling star" and became the first virus carrier. So because she was the first she became the template for how the virus sees humans, it just saw a suffering child and worried that everyone was suffering, and wanted to help! But its very confused and the only way it knows to help is to literally overwrite their minds with its happy peace energy. (And also occasionally additional limbs!) I think maybe the poor kid was being abused by her father and the alien virus actually saved her from him, so that's why she's so loyal to it and never wants to go back to being human. For her she really does think that "be happy but lose everything" is a worthwhile deal, she's just that desperate for a kind parental figure like this. Always dreamed of some fairy godmother whisking her away to a happier home, so maybe a sentient biohazard whisking her to space is good enough?

Anyway once goofy virus mom learns humanity and regrets their actions, the good ending would be them releasing everyone they infected and heading off back to space so they wont hurt anyone anymore. And the lil kid is still there, tugging at their sleeve. Please dont go! So maybe neither of them have to be alone, and maybe there's a way to solve sadness without burying it in artificial happiness. Maybe they could find that elusive true happiness together!

FBI guy: uhhh yeah we counted one more survivor than we're supposed to have?

Virus in a human disguise: i am just normalle momther, no suspicion here

And then lol.i dunno some sort of sitcom shenanigans with this abomination trying to blend in with the PTA group and support their daughter's piano recitals

Its a very random story. Im very tired.

[antiloreolympus]

13 Anti LO Asks

1. ok but thats seriously what bugs me so much about LO, it never actually lets serious moments be serious, it's always lampooned by rachel's insistent need to force in her juvenile "humor" and never actually depicting how pressing things are. even the following moments from persephone's r//pe was undercut by hades making stupid puns! i understand if rachel cant write something more serious than "[x] is bad" but if thats so, then dont try it? because thats how you end up with this pretentious mess.

2. since when did lo hades have earrings??? i legit do not remember this ever being a thing??? is he trying to be hip with the kids 😭my man you still look like a crusty old man the earrings arent helping 😭

3. lo hermes looks and acts like flaky from happy tree friends and no thats not a compliment (TW for gore, blood, and violence if any of you google it)

4. Even though the earlier art style was better there are still some cursed panels from the earlier pages that still haunt me. Especially the way Persephone was drawn differently in so many of the panels.

5. lo hades has such "how do you do fellow kids" energy and im not sure why

6. im also confused on the fertility goddess stuff because how stupid is persephone if she didnt notice? she can create life and nature without even thinking and shes implied to be a genius in biology, so how would she not even notice this? if RS really wants to go with this plot, then why have her professor bring it up in class? why not show persephone going to her uni's library to research the topic and pouring over it? that's an easy way to show persephone's intelligence, yet LO doesnt even try.

7. What I wanna know in LO was how Demeter and Hestia were compensated after the war. The three brothers got to be kings and Hera is queen, but what we know of Demeter is that she had a millionaire dollar business that’s probably made it on its own (unless she was helped out) and then Hestia all we really know about her is that she runs that TOGEM and idk if there’s only 4 of them, Hestia really had a group by herself for a bit since Athena is Zeus’ (assumed) daughter, Artemis (Zeus’ assumed daughter) and persphone (newest member) which seems shitty since they won a war together

8. I think what happened with LO’s art style was RS got “lazy” (I’m lacking the right word). I feel like without the colors all of the men in LO have the same body type, and Hermès and Apollo may even have the same face if they smile the same. So to compensate for that lack of body diversity, RS doubled down on Hades’ features to make him stand out more to really show he’s the male lead. However, even in her own words he looks like Persphones’ “dusty ass dad”

The women use to be a little different but they’re all starting to blend with body types. Her was small, but now she’s short and busty like Persphone. RS makes Persphone look short and busty all the time but almost childlike. Minthe was skinny but her last moments she was busy. Aphrodite I feel was just busty but then tried to make her look small also with Ares and Hades beside her. Hestia stayed the same but is still small and busty. Athena was tall and thin (?) but now she’s tall but busty (and her relationship with Hestia looks like it mirrors HXP). Idk I just feel like the longer screen time the female characters get the more they start mirroring Persphone’s look. Like even Artemis was getting empathized on being small next to her brother Apollo. Like all the girls gotta look small but curvy as the story goes on. 

9. Demeter: watched her friend get ripped in half. Watched her friend get continually cheated on, paying the price for not hiding a mistress , watched metis get eaten, her back clawed, fought in a war. Later made a daughter who’s a fertility goddess (probably an accident) and now has to raise her. That same daughter then went on a rampage and isn’t really remorseful

Fans: Demeter is such an overbearing mother who gets in the way of our ship.

10. on regards to ace characters, asexuality is a spectrum like everything else, so a lot of asexuals actually do enjoy and have sex, so the maidens doing so isnt inherently a problem, its the fact rachel is clearly viewing it through a strict binary where she assumes asexuality is something that can be "fixed" over time/when the right person comes along. its also a bad modern reading of it, as "virginity" in an ancient sense meant via marriage, not via sex, but I doubt rachel cares to factcheck it.

11. Imagine an elf is given a job to do at a human institution. The humans think elves don’t need bathroom breaks, since they know they can hold it for days, but this elf has been traveling to reach their job, and has already been holding it to the point they are in pain. They ask for a break, but their job is important and time sensitive, so they admit they can still hold it when asked. After a full day of work, the elf tries to reach the bathroom in time, but they were never told where it is.

From OP: I think this might be a nymph allegory? Anon never specified so I'll put this here anyway.

12. ya know if hades has to lie to make apollo seem worse (who does not need much in this comic) its like??? why is he persephone's lawyer then?? lawyers are literally told not to lie, this is basic law 101. thats why they dont want their clients to mention to them if they actually did the crimes because then the lawyers have to say it in court. if hades lies so casually just to keep persephone away from justified punishment, then thats bad actually!  both in being a decent person and as a lawyer!

From OP: Hades didn’t lie but he was definitely out of line. RS liked a tweet saying that the wife thing was “subconscious” so it probably was. (Still doesn’t make it right but I doubt he’d say those things on the stand.)

13. I know Minthe was written in a way she was suppose to be unlikesable, she’s rude, she yells and she doesn’t hesistate. HOWEVER RS wrote her character badly. Minthe is so unliked? How was she able to be a bad gf to hades and Thanatos? Like yes it’s an affair but how was she able to pull 2 gods?! We don’t hear Hades or Thanatos say what they like about her BUT they both still had a fling with her. (Honestly I feel it’s cause RS can’t bare writing one nice thing about the female anatangoist without trying to make Persphone look good)

The other thing bothering me was everyone knew about her relationship with Hades after she put it on fatesbook, but everyone talked about the kiss in such a positive light IN FRONT OF HER. Aren’t they suppose to be scared of her? Why did the girls in the yoga class/dress shop had so much to say about that kiss? Because they knew persphone? Did they know every other detail too? What was their actual beef with Minthe?

I feel like realistically some more characters would have sympathy for Minthe if they didn’t know her that well because of Hera. Everyone knows Hera is a pill to deal with and she’s the goddess of marriage who hasn’t really tried bringing Minthe and Hades to the alter. That right there should let everyone know that Hera probably doesn’t help the situation.

Idk, I feel like RS could have gone deeper and made the character not such HXP shippers cause most people wouldn’t cheer for cheating nor an old ass guy getting with a 19 year old. (Idk how fast the news of the slap spread, but I doubt it made it to every place in their fictional world)