Having thoughts again about N!Hector and the pathetic excluse of a plotline he was stuck in during S3.
One of the many, many ways it could be fixed is one of the simplest one: Lenore is actually believable in his quest to manipulate Hector.
In short, she'd pretend to be the Rosaly of the show.
I read many times that N!Hector isn't stupid for falling for Lenore, because poor little thing is a manchild starved for love. I say that yes, he is stupid, because Lenore doesn't do anything different from what Carmilla did one month prior. One month! That he spent being dragged through the snow! He had plenty of time to realize his mistake. Why would he trust Lenore, when she employs her same tactics of being a condescending bitch to him and also insult Dracula in the meantime - even worse, at least Carmilla waited until the end to beat the shit out of Hector; Lenore did that first thing to flex!
(this show's writing is so, so very unsubtle, and it goes past the lack of show don't tell)
So. Instead of Lenore being a smug piece of shit and spending most of her screentime in S3 treating Hector like a dog. How about actually pretending to be falling in love with him?
Actual compliments. Actual appreciation. Actual sympathy. Unconditional sympathy.
Hector being love-starved is canon. The game version and the show version went through the same thing: first, being rejected by their own parents, to the point that their own mother regretted giving birth to them; then, working for Dracula and with Isaac, which is where the two versions differ, because in the mangas Dracula appreciated Hector for his work and Isaac respected him but was also jealous of him, while in the show both of them shat on him and made clear they don't respect him one bit.
Were things more similar to the mangas, I like to think that Hector hoped that Dracula cared about him a little bit but it became obvious that he only saw him as a useful servant, while Isaac (who totally had a crush on Hector and yes I believe it's canon) always put his Lord above him.
In short, their appreciation was conditional. Be a good boy for us, Hector dear. What's that? You want to regain your agency? Well, then you'll have to die, you understand.
Then comes Rosaly who loved Hector unconditionally. She didn't care about his past or his sins: she only saw a good-hearted man and accepted him in her home despite everything. No wonder Hector declared undying loyalty to her, no wonder he cried when she said something remotely kind to him.
Imagine if Lenore did the same, but only to betray him in the end. He'd be gutted. And it would be believable! Because all the circumstances would be there for him to desperatley grasp to the one person who seems to actually respect him! I wouldn't think he's a complete dumbass for sticking his dick inside someone who said in the span of one minute "I can't betray my sisters by letting you go" and "we can run away together"!
Now, here we can go through two routes.
One, the sex scene happens and it's the same as in canon: Lenore simply uses the opportunity to slip the ring on his finger, her plan from the start. Hector is crushed. Lenore calls him her pet, and we actually see consequences of this (not necessarily other rape scenes because no thank you, but even simply the ring hurting him). During S4, Lenore starts to genuinely like Hector, but he never forgives her, betrays her in the end (you decide whether she suns herself for the guilt or he destroys her face with the hammer <3 but eh tbh in this scenario she doesn't even need to die, she can live alone in shame for all I care), and then... I don't know, I think he'd become very jaded at this point, but he could regain some hope from N!Isaac, if he doesn't act like a total patronizing dick in his final scene.
Two, the sex scene doesn't happen. Lenore actually falls for Hector, and she's torn between her loyalty to her sisters and her fondness for this poor human who maybe can understand her more than she thought. Maybe at first she chooses her sisters (she puts the ring on him but in other circumstances?), which hurts Hector, but then she changes her mind and pulls away from Carmilla's insanity - basically think of Zuko betraying the Gaang in Book 2 and regretting it in Book 3. Lenector actually looks like a viable ship and a much more organic "enemies to lovers" situation (for lack of a better word), instead of looking like rape apologism.
tl;dr: stop jerking off to vampire mommy and pay respect to the characters
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the problem w modern sci fi is there's no camp. would you ever see a man dressed like this in 2024 star trek? no
a woman dressed like this?
what about these guys?
what about this crime?
meanwhile modern trek just looks like this
WHERE is the cunt! the camp! the garish colors!
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Mystra showed him the secrets beneath the veils. The gossamer veils first, draped across the Weave. The delicate veils next, draped across her body. 'Chosen One' she whispered, as she slipped them off completely.
poor gale :'(
- the dialogue is from ea gale's explanation about his folly
- i kinda like that she ended up looking like a mother-of-pearl inlay lacquerware!
- oh this was a subconscious choice, but Gale is sitting in seiza which is a posture for showing respect especially to elders. it's also known to be a painful position to sit in for extended periods of time, which is why it was sometimes used as a method of (morally dubious) punishment. however, experienced people can maintain this posture for much longer. food for thought :-)
- (edit: deleted this point bcs it didn't really make sense + detracted from the art a little;;)
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“When I first heard it, from a dog trainer who knew her behavioral science, it was a stunning moment. I remember where I was standing, what block of Brooklyn’s streets. It was like holding a piece of polished obsidian in the hand, feeling its weight and irreducibility. And its fathomless blackness. Punishment is reinforcing to the punisher. Of course. It fit the science, and it also fit the hidden memories stored in a deeply buried, rusty lockbox inside me. The people who walked down the street arbitrarily compressing their dogs’ tracheas, to which the poor beasts could only submit in uncomprehending misery; the parents who slapped their crying toddlers for the crime of being tired or hungry: These were not aberrantly malevolent villains. They were not doing what they did because they thought it was right, or even because it worked very well. They were simply caught in the same feedback loop in which all behavior is made. Their spasms of delivering small torments relieved their frustration and gave the impression of momentum toward a solution. Most potently, it immediately stopped the behavior. No matter that the effect probably won’t last: the reinforcer—the silence or the cessation of the annoyance—was exquisitely timed. Now. Boy does that feel good.”
— Melissa Holbrook Pierson, The Secret History of Kindness (2015)
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you know what boils my blood.
over the last 2 weeks, i've seen countless patients walk into my urgent care center, symptomatic for so many things, refusing to get tested for covid and flu, citing that they don't want to knowingly bring it to their holiday tables. i had a patient tell me, verbatim, "i don't want to test for covid, because i don't want to be the asshole who brings it on a plane."
i understand that - i understand that holidays are times where people look forward to meeting loved ones that they might only see once a year, or where they get a break from the hectic back and forth of their lives.
but here's the thing - whether they get tested or not, they will bring whatever they have to their holiday tables. it's pure recklessness to know that you're sick, and walk into someone else's house spreading the disease.
today, january 2, i saw 91 patients, many of them who have tested positive for covid and flu. many of these patients are the same ones who didn't want testing 3 days ago, until their events were over, and now, they will have to reach out to everyone they know to let them know that they were positive because they were showing symptoms well before their event.
the next week or two? we're going to see many, many more, all people with symptoms that started around christmas. these are the only two viruses we test for rapidly in our office, but they are potent and can be fatal in many people.
so here's why i wrote this post, and maybe it's a little late, but - if you care about your loved ones, please get tested if you know you're sick. it doesn't have to be at a clinic if you don't want it to, because the over-the-counter tests work just fine too (if you test within 5-7 days of symptom onset). just...please don't try to run from the knowledge that you might have covid, because immunocompromised people, elderly people, people with co-morbidities like asthma, pregnancy, diabetes, etc...many of them may not recover. and they may not be sitting at your holiday table in the future because of it.
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✍️ more fic writer asks!
reblog & your followers can send asks with the questions they’d like you to answer!
the last sentence you wrote
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talk about your writing and editing process
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