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Overlady: Attack of the Minions (Thread II)

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boo600 said:
Wait... This is still going?!?

AAAAAAAAAARRRRRGGGH! DKA all over again! WHY MUST WE WAIT?!?!

That's it. I'm stealing Eleanor's dark gods so I can go to the future, read DKA and Overlady, and spoil everything to ES and Pusakuronu!
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On reaching the future, you discover that ES just released the latest chapter of My Father was Secretly a Killer Monkey Man from Outer Space; or, How I Met Your Megolomaniacal Mad Scientist Giant Robot Mother, and that you have to wait another several weeks for the next chapter of that to be released. :V
 
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xeivous said:
I really gotta disagree with you on this part. The elite minions have had as much screentime as they needed, as their purpose is something that I see as being very particular. While they, like their fellow minions, are equal parts muscle and comic relief, focusing on the elite minions is something I'm almost certain that ES only does for the specific instances where their perspective the absolutely the best for the plot to move forward. Times where Louise is incapacitated in some form, or is generally ignorant of things going on like when Gnarl stole the results for the Cabal awards so he could double Louise's funds. Having them star just enough that one is quite please to see that things have turned to a Minionly perspective instead of annoyed like when the Heroes get their interludes is what makes the minion perspective great. I don't think that it really has anything to do with the scope of the story growing or it's cast expanding. However I will grant you that Char isn't as good as Igni, and I halfway suspect it's supposed to be a joke about replacement characters not being as good as the killed-off originals.
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I suspect--I don't know, but I suspect--that the minion interludes are something more than just a vehicle for plot conveyance. The elite minions are visibly becoming more 3-dimensional, which indicates to me that they will become important at some point in the future. Also, the heroic interludes feel like they're directly related to the main plot--we just haven't seen how they're related, yet, because ES is a bastard who like to toy with his readers.

As a recovering troll, I strongly approve of this notion, of course, but I think I'm starting to see something of how it all fits together, and if I'm right, than ES has produced a plot that is a very elegant mix of several very simple plot ideas to create a rather intricately complex story that holds up very well even to those who know absolutely nothing about either Overlord, or Familiar of Zero.

At the current rate, I suspect that I am going to end up suggesting that ES give some serious thought to just filing off the serial numbers, and then submitting the entire work to a publisher as original fiction. Mind you, after our clash earlier, I have to wonder if that might not guarantee that he never does so, but that's another issue entirely.
 
Arcus said:
How I Met Your Megolomaniacal Mad Scientist Giant Robot Mother
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This sounds like a hilarious story of Gendo telling Shinji how he met Yui, forever scarring Shinji in new and imaginative ways.

I'd guess that GreggHL would type something like that.
 
We're probably going to get another couple of updates before the year is up, though I'm incredibly doubtful that we'll finish the upcoming Albion arc or even whatever mini-arc within that that is coming up. Unless ES decides they're got some good momentum and has got to beat another fat chunk of plot into our skulls.

As a side note, I had a curious thought about a few things. Does the Vallèrie blood-feud with the von Zerbsts extend to bastards like Isabella? And if so, can Louise turn her into a werewolf or is there some sort of hybrid maximum limit or something?
 
That is not dead which can eternal lie, and in strange eons even death may die.

ES updates whenever the stars are right.
 
boo600 said:
Umm... is this no longer updating?
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Good rule of thumb. If it has been less than a year, it will probably update, if it has been more than a year, it is probably stone cold dead. Probably. If you want to know for certain, then go ask on the author's profile page. Or check their sig, if they do things that way.

But, if you feel that prodding the thread like this is how you wanna roll, then preceding the question with a more substantial review of the story or something similar is probably advisable.
 
xeivous said:
We're probably going to get another couple of updates before the year is up, though I'm incredibly doubtful that we'll finish the upcoming Albion arc or even whatever mini-arc within that that is coming up. Unless ES decides they're got some good momentum and has got to beat another fat chunk of plot into our skulls.

As a side note, I had a curious thought about a few things. Does the Vallèrie blood-feud with the von Zerbsts extend to bastards like Isabella? And if so, can Louise turn her into a werewolf or is there some sort of hybrid maximum limit or something?
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I would strongly suspect that Isabella has some pretty strong protections against that sort of thing. Plus, she's a von Zerbst--even if she wasn't protected, a werewolf curse would hardly be a major problem.
 
Partizan said:
I would strongly suspect that Isabella has some pretty strong protections against that sort of thing. Plus, she's a von Zerbst--even if she wasn't protected, a werewolf curse would hardly be a major problem.
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Izah'belya: "... can you even get a werewolf-succubus? I'm not sure how this works. And I'm pretty sure getting big and hairy limits you to a very niche section of the succubus market."

Jessica: "Hey, you could make yourself distinctive! It's probably someone's thing."

Izah'belya: "That's a singularly unhelpful comment. That applies to pretty much everything, even gluttony demons. Anyway, I already have my niche. Some people have a thing for assertive women in business dress. They want to be told what to do."

Jessica: "... you just tell them to sign your contracts and drop the act as soon as you own them, don't you?"

Izah'belya: "Bingo."

Jessica: "You're terrible."

Izah'belya: "Thank you very much."
 
Partizan said:
I would strongly suspect that Isabella has some pretty strong protections against that sort of thing. Plus, she's a von Zerbst--even if she wasn't protected, a werewolf curse would hardly be a major problem.
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Even if she is at most due a few weeks bedrest to kill off the infection, lycanthropy seems like it would be something of a hinderance to her ability to prevent bi-weekly assassination attempts. To say nothing of if the expensive tart that is her mother, whom Isabella is already on thin ice with, finds out and takes issue with such disgrace.

Assuming one can actually get such a thing.
 
EarthScorpion said:
Izah'belya: "... can you even get a werewolf-succubus? I'm not sure how this works. And I'm pretty sure getting big and hairy limits you to a very niche section of the succubus market."
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Vampire succubi, on the other hand...

I mean are they even all that different? Both of them drink people's bodily fluids and drain their life essence, after all.
 
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Salty said:
Are redundant.

Mixing two rape metaphor monsters does not produce rape metaphor monster2​.
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Wait, since when are vampires or succubi metaphors for rape? Vampires pretty much started out as metaphors for disease (medieval revenant-types, Nosferatu, etc.), with a side effect of seduction ("The Vampyre," in which Ruthven was pretty much a stand-in for Lord Byron and his effective although dubious charms; Dracula, in which he would corrupt all the virtuous Englishwomen into being seductive creatures of the night*). Vampires who engage in assault tend to stay away from sexual assault and confine it to, well, "tiger pounces on cow and eats it." Really, the major exception comes in paranormal romance novels and urban fantasy, where vampires aren't so much "rape metaphor" as they are direct analogues of rapey alpha-male romance leads** and the fact that they have fangs is entirely incidental. Heck, the werewolves are almost always the same, yet more so. (In-story, Catt seems to be part "darkly seductive temptress," if you're a maid, and part "voracious assault predator," if you're not.)

*Though honestly, it's entirely possible that was all just subtext; analyzing Dracula as literature is way beyond this thread. But to the extent that Dracula is a sexual metaphor, it's a racist metaphor for how hot foreign guys will turn innocent Anglo-Saxon girls into twisted creatures that actually *gasp* enjoy carnality!!! The absolute horror!!!

**And discussions of the role of sexual assault in romance novels is way outside of the topic of this thread, I think. Unless ES has a sidestory thread running over in Sufficiently Sexy about Cattelya and her maids that I don't know about.

And the entire point of succubi is that they tempt you into sexual activity that the "virtuous" person would otherwise avoid. They're not about raping you, they're about tempting you to exercise your free will and give in to the sin of lust. (A big part of medieval succubus mythology, after all, is basically to explain why genuinely celibate monks get wet dreams. The Devil was sending hot girls into their dreams to try to tempt them when their guard was down! :rolleyes: )
 
DezoPenguin said:
Wait, since when are vampires or succubi metaphors for rape?
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As I've mentioned before, there are certain mythological traditions in which vampires drink from the femoral artery, on the inner thigh. Judging by her introductory scene, Cattleya seems to do that from time to time.

DezoPenguin said:
(A big part of medieval succubus mythology, after all, is basically to explain why genuinely celibate monks get wet dreams. The Devil was sending hot girls into their dreams to try to tempt them when their guard was down! :rolleyes: )
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And (in conjunction with incubi) how nuns get pregnant.
 
DezoPenguin said:
Wait, since when are vampires or succubi metaphors for rape?
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Somewhere in the 19th or early 20th century, I think. It really depends on the writer, but both vampires and incubi/succubi have been used as rape metaphors as much as they have as other sorts of metaphor. It also depends on the literary analyst, of course: Dracula (from the novel and play, at least) has been referred to as a rape metaphor, as a seduction/cheating metaphor, as a disease or mental illness metaphor, and so on.

Cattleya in this fic could be described as a metaphor for lesbianism, but she's not all that metaphorical, really. Even the implications are pretty blatant.
 
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Actually...I've been wondering...how come all of the female von Zerbst offspring seem to turn into relatively decent people, considering their circumstances, while all the males are...well...evil? Not to mention stupid?

Are the brains and compassion for the von Zerbst family all bound up in the X chromosome, or something?

Also, it occurs to me that, despite the fact that, Isabella is kinda low-power in demon terms, she seems to be moving quickly towards becoming a bigger and bigger player in Hell's internal (and infernal) politics, just as a result of the sheer wealth factor. How long will it be before one of the other, bigger players decides she constitutes a threat, and decides to do something about her? And when they do, what kind of options does she have for deflecting such an attempt, before she has to start getting in touch with relatives to do something about it?
 
Partizan said:
Actually...I've been wondering...how come all of the female von Zerbst offspring seem to turn into relatively decent people, considering their circumstances, while all the males are...well...evil? Not to mention stupid?
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Excuse me? Danny is neither evil nor stupid.

And neither was that random von Zerbst who Louise ran into in the past. He was perfectly polite and civil. He just liked hunting animals in a fair fight and considered the use of guns, wands, and anything apart from your bare hands to be cheating.

Partizan said:
Also, it occurs to me that, despite the fact that, Isabella is kinda low-power in demon terms, she seems to be moving quickly towards becoming a bigger and bigger player in Hell's internal (and infernal) politics, just as a result of the sheer wealth factor. How long will it be before one of the other, bigger players decides she constitutes a threat, and decides to do something about her? And when they do, what kind of options does she have for deflecting such an attempt, before she has to start getting in touch with relatives to do something about it?
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Who says she's a bigger player? There are countless demons at about her influence tier; running a few ops in the mortal world, influencing minor figures of Evil, and other things like that. She's wealthy compared to the average demon on the smog-choked street, but she's not compared to the really big players.

And being a "princess of Hell" literally means less than being a prince of Saudi Arabia. The title is so devalued by how common it is that family gatherings can be mistaken for the legions of the Abyss marching to war.
 
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