Canon Louise has a lot of self-hate, yes.
Overlady: Attack of the Minions (Thread II)
- Thread starter EarthScorpion
- Start date
- Fantasy
- Location
- Portugal
I know, but seriously, if the familiar summoning ritual literally brings the being most like yourself or the one most fit for you and you whip it, it means having lots of issues, if i recall, Louise treats Saito the worst out of everyone she knows, no one else gets anything near the same level of abuse, at most just some jabs and insults like at Kirche who fights back, really, her worst impulses are directed at the one being most like her or the one that should become the closest to her.
Hell, most nobles or mages treat their familiars very well, Louise is just an special case all of her own, again, probably reading way too much into this, but whipping the one guy who represents your soul the most is highly indicative of serious mental problems, the girl needs therapy.
...Now i kinda wanna write an ZnT story where whatever magic or entity that decides which familiars go to mages ends up deciding to not give her Saito, ignores the "representative of one's being and soul" requirement and instead ends up giving her a therapist, psychiatrist or whatever and the story would be about said therapist talking to her into becoming a better person with a lot less self-hate, then again, with how many ZnT stories there are, someone must have already written this story and i just don't know about it.
- Location
- Can't read map
One idea being she gets some Lovecraftian entity that eats her soul... hmm Harry Potter dementor might work, it seals familiar pact with a "kiss". That would be very short story.
deadcrystal
Slaaneshi Cultist
- Location
- The Warp
Kind of doesn't really matter whether she brings it up or not? Y'know, what with the whole mind-rapey thing of the ritual placing a compulsion on the summoned to obey the summoner, and slowly reshaping their personality to make them suit the summoner better. If a human ends up appearing in the summoning circle and then you go right ahead and complete the ritual despite it being something that kind of enslaves someone to a degree you don't get to claim moral high ground there.
Jonen C
F.M.D.G.
- Location
- Lincopense, Ostrogothia, Suecia
I am fairly sure that there's a rule out there that says stories about nice people are terrifically dull unless something bad happens to them, and that has a tendency to turn all but the purest of souls somewhat nasty.
Fanon bullshit. No, that's not what the runes do - at most, they suppress homesickness, and even there they're not perfect.
And the idea that it makes Saito obey Louise is... uh, bruh, completely falsified by canon. You can't say that the runes make the familiar obey the master when Saito spends most of his time not-obeying her.
No. Oh no. You're going to stop that. Just like everyone else is going to stop that. You're not turning my thread into a ZnT ideas thread for discussing pathetic curbstomps. Haven't people got it out of their systems yet already?
- Location
- Portugal
It was the obligatory not wanting to complete the ritual but Colbert forcing her to scene, besides that, in Maid Of Honour, Louise doesn't mention the familiar status to Siesta, it's Siesta who cares the most about that and Louise does acknowledge it's a fucked up thing and feels pretty terrible about it, as in, past a few weeks after the ritual she still has nights where she barely sleeps because she keeps herself wide awake thinking about what she did to Siesta, which is why she never whips Siesta, insults her or abuses her.
It's not as if in Maid Of Honour she just did the ritual and then never cared about Siesta, Louise being ashamed and horrified at what she did is a big part of the plot, in fact, it is pointed out in-universe that after the ritual she became alot more depressed and less energetic constantly thinking about what she did and she becomes more depressed as the story goes on and Siesta is forced to fight just because she is her familiar.
Basically, i can see Louise from Maid Of Honour jumping at any oppurtunity to sever or destroy their master-familiar relationship and make Siesta go back to a normal life where she isn't forced to fight for her, she also tries to make up for it, in a spoiled noble girl kind of way, buying Siesta nice expensive clothes and things while always asking her about her health and if she has any problems, oh and paying Siesta a good salary for being a bodyguard too.
Yeah, buying clothes and such does not make up for it, but Louise in Maid Of Honour is a girl horrified at what she did without any clue in how to make things better, she is still an whole lot better than Canon Louise anyways.
- Location
- Can't read map
All right, sorry. Thought it looked more war warming up.
Entropy Judge
Recurring Bouts of Misanthropy
Well, remember that Louise has Karen for a mother and Eleanore for a sister, in a society where 'noble = mage' is a given, and she can't use magic. She gets flak from basically everyone - either to her face or behind her back - because she's not living up to the standards they think she should. IIRC, even Cattleya is an extremely proficient mage despite her illness. Louise does have issues because she can't manage to do anything 'right.' And then she finally uses magic and summons a familiar ... and it's a human, something unheard-of. And he doesn't listen to her, humiliates her, and mocks her. Of course she's going to overreact:
Most people who aren't nobles don't deliberately tempt fate by raising her ire to her face, instead whispering behind her back and claiming innocence if she does hear. And she doesn't have the power (real power, familial and political) to get away with assaulting people of roughly the same social level as her. She doesn't have any acceptable targets to lash out at.
deadcrystal
Slaaneshi Cultist
- Location
- The Warp
Some cursory googling indicates they absolutely do have a significant effect? Apparently there was a whole THING in the novels where they eventually broke the mind effects of the Gandalfr runes because they were fucking him up so much and he was super super not happy when he was back in his right mind.
- Location
- Portugal
He was not happy about the homesickness removing thing and the treatment he received from Louise which he told to her face, but still stayed with Louise anyways.
Yes. He was really homesick. People want to exaggerate things and make them TEH EVUL MINED CONTROLL, but no, in truth the runes are basically just a plot device to explain why he doesn't miss home and can get involved in a fantasy world adventure.
Of course, this also comes after the Albion campaign, which left both him and Louise a bit fucked up because - as ZnT sometimes does and shows the writer is better than his audience wants him to be - campaigning is actually very stressful, as is watching people you've made friends with on campaign die. And then he almost died. And then Tifa saved his life (though he died for long enough to break the runes), and then he's stuck there recovering with nothing to do, so perhaps it's not a surprise he got homesick then.
Sasha killed Brimir instead of doing what he wanted.
I assume we are heading for a boss fight soon? I hope it's well designed. Is this the first boss fight of the story?
There were Mott and Louis, the lady spider, and I'm fairly sure I'm forgetting someone.
Salty
Shadow Cabal Assumptor Supreme
- Location
- Sun, Moon, Talia
- Pronouns
- I/Me
SoothingCoffee
Umumumu
- Location
- The Library
The Candy?
ReaperofInterest
Herald of Disaster
I find myself wondering if this was planned, story-wise. I mean, Karin's comment on killing dark gods not being as hard as it's said to be, the building up of Athe as Montespan(or Marzipan, whatever her name is)'s manipulating backer with mysterious plans. I think that this might be something planned since the beginning of the story, myself.
It could just be that Karin is just that much of a badass.
Although, Louise has been growing in power quite a bit throughout the story, and has the advantage of research.
As an intelligent Overlady, Louise knows how to engage Karin and not die.
Ideally, DON'T.
But if you can't avoid it then it is important to remember that Karin is a wind mage, and wind is powerless in an area with no air. Therefore, to avoid dying at a horrifically efficient speed, ensure all engagements occur firmly inside your territory. Territory you have prepared in advance to seal airtight and expel all air at the drop of a hat to create a complete vacuum. Then you blast her with evil lightning (not fire magic because it doesn't work in a vacuum, or hellfire because the burning materials will create gasses Karin can use).
Ideally, DON'T.
But if you can't avoid it then it is important to remember that Karin is a wind mage, and wind is powerless in an area with no air. Therefore, to avoid dying at a horrifically efficient speed, ensure all engagements occur firmly inside your territory. Territory you have prepared in advance to seal airtight and expel all air at the drop of a hat to create a complete vacuum. Then you blast her with evil lightning (not fire magic because it doesn't work in a vacuum, or hellfire because the burning materials will create gasses Karin can use).
- Location
- in the trash
Alas, the last villain who tried that got their windpipe crushed, because they kept an enchanted air bubble so they could breathe.
And it's not a very effective tactic when your opponent is a better wind mage than you and can prevent you from expelling the air from the area to begin with.
Generally, clever people who think they've found the Heavy Wind's one weakness tend to die very quickly after finding out that it wasn't as much of a weakness as they thought.
Last edited:
- Location
- oregon, usa
- Pronouns
- He/Him
On the subject of Karin, I would recommend sealing yourself away for the next seventy years as an offensive tactic thereby killing her by the unavoidable means of steady progression of time. Karin is Good, and thus disinclined to engage in the myriad of ways of life extension. Failing that, I have always recommended a good pair of running shoes and a very well hidden hole to hide in.
The only good news for the forces of Evil is that Karin did not marry a Kirche's father.
The only good news for the forces of Evil is that Karin did not marry a Kirche's father.
I'm not so sure. On one hand, Karin might have gone on killing more Evil people and contribute further to the Karin Crash, but she still could have ended up retiring before doing as much damage as ruining the Valliere line by marrying the white sheep of the family.
On the other hand, Karin marrying into the Valleres has produced Louise and Catt. Who together with some demonic assistance have accomplished some rather devious things and Louise in particular seems to been enough of a catalyst to edge the royal family of Tristan back towards Evil in Henriette. The future is looking rather dark for the forces of Evil as Eleanore may just make the Evil generation skip a hat trick for the Vallerie family, to say nothing of what happens should Louise succeed in overthrowing the Council, instating Henriette and possibly hooking up with her.
- Location
- Can't read map
Forget what grandpa Louis said, if wishing his ancestors under his control, but Karin might have also made Valliers even worse (Evil language).
Can actually know some morality so no falling for "Evil can't understand good". Setting better traps and sadistic choices for Good heroes.
One man armies as said that above that Good heroes can usually go gains overwhelming odds and win.
More strong willed as they are not under control of Louis, maybe resist a bit mind influences of others?
Anything else?
Can actually know some morality so no falling for "Evil can't understand good". Setting better traps and sadistic choices for Good heroes.
One man armies as said that above that Good heroes can usually go gains overwhelming odds and win.
More strong willed as they are not under control of Louis, maybe resist a bit mind influences of others?
Anything else?
Imrix
Periodically Malevolent QM
It's EarthScorpion, of course it's planned.