Spike: In Buffy S3, it's established that vampires are typically immune to mindreading: "It's like the mirror. The thoughts are there but they leave no reflection in you." However I think for a god an exception can be (and probably has been) made. So his mind's probably less accessible than most, but chinks can be gotten through. Mindjacking's always fun. ;-) Especially for Spike, who the more he's confronted with things, the ruder and flippanter he'll get. He's got everything to be ashamed of yet is surprisingly well-adjusted.
Lupin: if the forge in Broadcast season is anything to go by; total open book, man. Go for it. (He's going to start using occlumens to see if that helps…)
o2. What kind of effect will Hades have, spiritual-pressure-wise, so to speak?
Am I right in thinking One Ring as frame of reference? I found myself assuming the most powerful are the most susceptible, but perhaps it's the opposite…
Spike: he's quite used to gods (Glory - Buffy S5; Illyria - Angel S5) and Death Incarnations (The First - Bs7; Pavane - As5). He's fought them, befriended them, been tortured by them, been brainwashed and manipulated… and generally tends to break free eventually and be invariably rude. He's all-around resilient to coercion. So I'm thinking above averagely resistant, if not entirely immune? (Hmmm, for a god who doesn't care about reverence, I wonder if Spike's irreverence could actually be endearing somehow.)
Lupin: Could probably win back some resistance, he's pretty good with the transcendent self-examination yoga thing, but it would be a fight. And he's powerful, esp. in this dimension, so all the more to hack and hijack. (See again: if it's a case of Frodo can hang onto the Ring but Gandalf should not.) …And man, if people can perceive Hades as their own idea of death… this might be far too easy for Hades to find amusing, but he could exploit Lupin's likeliness to see him as someone else, Sirius or Tonks or Lily or… haha, Snape. Open season.
o3. What will he be able to say about you to test the truth of (e.g., 'You have two brothers.' If he can say it, then he knows that it's true)? I can review some canon if you don't go into detail but otherwise I will pester you with questions...
Please pester! Love that sort of thing. Tidbits, though…
Spike: Real name's always a good start. "Love's bitch but man enough to admit it." Killed his mother out of love for her. Spent a lot of time comparing himself to Angel. Slept with the enemy (many many times). Likes fried onion flowers. Anything, really.
Lupin: Most of it's already out on the forges anyway… but if I understand correctly, Hades isn't interested in showing off his own powers, just in testing 'em? So anything works. If button-pushing is an aim, and you're comfortable dipping your toes into headcanon, anything here would be a whopper.
o4. Anything else? Such as, what will Hades be able to do in terms of combat?
Spike spent the latter part of Angel S5 sparring with Illyria-who, incidentally, has some similar powers to Hades, esp. disappearing/reappearing. She was so amused by Spike's willingness to throw himself into a fight he couldn't possibly win, and get pretty beat up in the process, that she wanted to keep Spike as a pet. ;-) So he's game!
Lupin would have more reverence for what [he thinks] Hades is and probably not try to fight duelingly. Any struggle would be psychological/meditative Zen-throwdown-his usual deal not to get overpowered by thoughts of death. However, do you think Occlumency or Patronus charm would be of any use against Hades, like at all?
I love me some Hades. :-) I have to go read this now. This one already reminds me a bit of the Raven King in Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell and someone Neil Gaiman-y… (is it just me or could the incarnation of Thoth in American Gods might as well be Lupin? Sorry, digressing.)
Spike: In Buffy S3, it's established that vampires are typically immune to mindreading: "It's like the mirror. The thoughts are there but they leave no reflection in you." However I think for a god an exception can be (and probably has been) made. So his mind's probably less accessible than most, but chinks can be gotten through.
Mindjacking's always fun. ;-) Especially for Spike, who the more he's confronted with things, the ruder and flippanter he'll get. He's got everything to be ashamed of yet is surprisingly well-adjusted.
Lupin: if the forge in Broadcast season is anything to go by; total open book, man. Go for it.
(He's going to start using occlumens to see if that helps…)
o2. What kind of effect will Hades have, spiritual-pressure-wise, so to speak?
Am I right in thinking One Ring as frame of reference? I found myself assuming the most powerful are the most susceptible, but perhaps it's the opposite…
Spike: he's quite used to gods (Glory - Buffy S5; Illyria - Angel S5) and Death Incarnations (The First - Bs7; Pavane - As5). He's fought them, befriended them, been tortured by them, been brainwashed and manipulated… and generally tends to break free eventually and be invariably rude. He's all-around resilient to coercion. So I'm thinking above averagely resistant, if not entirely immune?
(Hmmm, for a god who doesn't care about reverence, I wonder if Spike's irreverence could actually be endearing somehow.)
Lupin: Could probably win back some resistance, he's pretty good with the transcendent self-examination yoga thing, but it would be a fight. And he's powerful, esp. in this dimension, so all the more to hack and hijack. (See again: if it's a case of Frodo can hang onto the Ring but Gandalf should not.)
…And man, if people can perceive Hades as their own idea of death… this might be far too easy for Hades to find amusing, but he could exploit Lupin's likeliness to see him as someone else, Sirius or Tonks or Lily or… haha, Snape. Open season.
o3. What will he be able to say about you to test the truth of (e.g., 'You have two brothers.' If he can say it, then he knows that it's true)? I can review some canon if you don't go into detail but otherwise I will pester you with questions...
Please pester! Love that sort of thing. Tidbits, though…
Spike: Real name's always a good start. "Love's bitch but man enough to admit it." Killed his mother out of love for her. Spent a lot of time comparing himself to Angel. Slept with the enemy (many many times). Likes fried onion flowers. Anything, really.
Lupin: Most of it's already out on the forges anyway… but if I understand correctly, Hades isn't interested in showing off his own powers, just in testing 'em? So anything works.
If button-pushing is an aim, and you're comfortable dipping your toes into headcanon, anything here would be a whopper.
o4. Anything else? Such as, what will Hades be able to do in terms of combat?
Spike spent the latter part of Angel S5 sparring with Illyria-who, incidentally, has some similar powers to Hades, esp. disappearing/reappearing. She was so amused by Spike's willingness to throw himself into a fight he couldn't possibly win, and get pretty beat up in the process, that she wanted to keep Spike as a pet. ;-) So he's game!
Lupin would have more reverence for what [he thinks] Hades is and probably not try to fight duelingly. Any struggle would be psychological/meditative Zen-throwdown-his usual deal not to get overpowered by thoughts of death. However, do you think Occlumency or Patronus charm would be of any use against Hades, like at all?
I love me some Hades. :-) I have to go read this now. This one already reminds me a bit of the Raven King in Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell and someone Neil Gaiman-y… (is it just me or could the incarnation of Thoth in American Gods might as well be Lupin? Sorry, digressing.)
Reply
And when you mention it, Thoth does remind me a bit of Lupin. Huh.
Reply
Leave a comment