Hi hi! I’m Lily! Welcome to my blog 🪻🌿 23 || she/her || spanish || ao3: @lady_angst (more or less on writing break still) || lover of wlw, whump, hurt/comfort, slowburns, trope subversion, and many more!!
Scylla: a small appreciation post and character study, part 3 (+ slight epilogue spoilers)
🌊🌊 (Part 1 here) 🌊🌊
🌊🌊 (Part 2 here) 🌊🌊
So, in my previous posts I talked about the victim blaming that is done towards Scylla by the game and its characters, mainly Circe and Melinoë to a lesser extent, and that there is a certain line of dialogue that hints at Nymph Scylla being a relatively normal person, that being:
Scylla: Ohh, you keep trying to kill me, lady! The former Sea-Nymph side of me says just forget it and move on! But, I don’t like to listen to her anymore.
I already analysed this line and the possible ramifications of this comment in part 2 of this series, so I will continue on without further ado.
So, other than being your everyday nymph—pretty, flirty and mischievous—we also know that she was 1) a chatterbox, which is obvious in-game but is confirmed to hold true way back when as well by Circe:
Circe: I grew up underneath the sea, and Scylla I remember from my youth. Always yelping about this or that! Was deafening!
And 2) that Scylla was always a diva with big dreams and ambitions in the music industry, as Scylla herself admits once you get the previous conversation with Circe:
Mel: Are you familiar with the enchantress Circe? She mentioned that she knew you in her youth... though, I’m uncertain if you were on friendly terms.
Scylla: The enchantress Circe, no that doesn’t ring a bell! The only Circe I knew was the talentless pathetic little runt of the litter of Helios himself! What has this other Circe got to say?
Mel: She gave me the impression you were always rather boisterous, even back then. Perhaps already practicing the kinds of songs you think shall bring you fame.
Scylla: It’s no secret I always knew what I wanted to be, lady. Always knew what I was meant to be! Circe and so many others... <scoff> all they ever did was get in my way! Same as you.
The thing is, Circe then says this after Melinoë asks if she knows which witch cursed Scylla because of what the Book of Shadows says about her:
Circe: I do not curse, poppet. My practice is about revealing the true nature of a thing. When last I checked, Scylla had made hers clear.
So, according to her, Scylla was always a monster and she merely made her appearance match her personality/true nature. Again, the Book of Shadows says so:
BoS: A witch cursed her, you know; to look the way she is, though not to be. Her disposition is of her own choice.
What I didn’t fully take into account when writing part 1 & 2 of these Scylla analyses is that the Book of Shadows was written, to an extent, by Hecate.
Hecate, who is Melinoë from another timeline.
Hecate, who probably had to fight Scylla on her way to Chronos and resented her for being in her way much like Melinoë does.
Hecate, who is good friends with Circe, who cursed Scylla and always saw her as a monster simply because the god she was in love with (Glaucus) loved Scylla and not her.
Hecate, who is good friends with Odysseus, whose awful run-in with Scylla is a legendary tale that anyone who is anyone knows about even if he is a fan of Scylla and the Sirens in the present time.
Not to mention that the Moon was full the night Circe cursed her—
—meaning that Selene most likely saw the whole thing and took her fellow Unseen’s side in this predicament, which may have skewed Hecate’s opinion on Scylla’s inherent monstrosity even further in case she had any doubts left.
After all, we know far too well that gods can be very condescending towards those they dislike, whether they are mortals (Aranche and Dora), other gods (Eris), or Titans (Prometheus), and that they very rarely, if ever, change their minds about those preconceptions.
I might be reading too far into this (I’m a fanfic writer and utterly fascinated by Scylla, so I wouldn’t be too surprised if I was) but I really like this interpretation. Not to toot my own horn or anything, of course! It’s just particularly interesting and even funny to me since Mel seems to have inherited Circe’s on-sight hatred for Scylla, so this reading adds an extra layer to that as well.
i hate it when im writing and i have the overwhelming sense that something is really off with my sentences even though objectively theyre perfectly fine and i just feel really dissatisfied and i dont even know why
Writers have two modes and they are "i haven't written in three weeks and i am rotting from the inside and everything feels wrong and i don't know who i am anymore" and "i wrote for four hours straight and forgot to eat and it's dark outside and when did that happen and i feel like a god" and there is nothing in between. no chill. no medium setting. just famine or feast and a very confused nervous system.
I’m not sure if any of my may your ambitions drown readers follow me here, but I’m going to leave a little update here anyhow:
Chapter 4 is in the works, rest assured! Writing is going much slower than expected because of irl stuff (I genuinely cannot believe I posted ch3 a little over a week now, what the hell, Chronos stop messing with my perception of time pls n tyyy) and because I’m slightly stuck 1.6k words in (someone please get Melinoë out of Olympus already oh my gooooooddddd).
Little update: I've been hit by the overthinking, overediting stick. Aka the perfectionism stick. And I'm stuck very, very bad. I'm taking things slow.
This shit always happens when I'm most excited about something, I swear... augh...
I’m not sure if any of my may your ambitions drown readers follow me here, but I’m going to leave a little update here anyhow:
Chapter 4 is in the works, rest assured! Writing is going much slower than expected because of irl stuff (I genuinely cannot believe I posted ch3 a little over a week now, what the hell, Chronos stop messing with my perception of time pls n tyyy) and because I’m slightly stuck 1.6k words in (someone please get Melinoë out of Olympus already oh my gooooooddddd).
Little update: I've been hit by the overthinking, overediting stick. Aka the perfectionism stick. And I'm stuck very, very bad. I'm taking things slow.
This shit always happens when I'm most excited about something, I swear... augh...
Happy pride to everyone, but especially to this useless lesbian and her absolute banger of an 80s-love-power-ballad-esque thirst track that she swears is NOT how she truly feels because “it’s called a fictionalized work” and which she most definitely did NOT write herself, any and all similarities in the lyrics pointing at her are ENTIRELY coincidence, pinky promise with glitter and shiny pearls on top 💙✨️
Rest in piece, Sappho of Lesbos, O Mother of WLW, you would’ve loved pining and yearning and blasting Bewitching Eyes 24/7 😔✊🏼
*grumbles* Mel and Scylla should’ve lezzed out, dammit. Lowkey homophobic that they didn’t methinks *grumbles*
Hell yeah, shout-out to them and to all Scylla fans, hear hear!! 🫡 I love her too, she’s my #1 character of the whole Hadesverse by far, she’s just so- aaaaaa!!
And yeah, Scyllinoë is beautiful ship name. I also adore the lesser-known alt one: clamwitch. Or chlamwitch, if we take the game’s spelling of "chlam" into consideration. All options are *chef’s kiss* anyway.
If not a canon love interest, why have such good ship names? If not a canon love interest, why love interest shaped? If not a canon love interest, why Bewitching Eyes?
Smh smh.
(So sorry for the rant, I get sooo excited about Scylla and Scyllinoë sjsjsjs cheers!!)
oh my god i love clamwitch, i had never heard that one until today i love it so much it sounds so cool!!! 100%, there is no bad ship name for them.
*heavy* on if not a canon love interest why bewitching eyes? because hello??? is anyone else hearing this???
(i mean like jetty apparently wrote most of it but okay 👀)
ahhh no need to apologise whatsoever!!! it was so nice to read :)) i love connecting w other Hades fans and especially over characters/ships so this is so nice :DD ofcccc any time!
About Jetty apparently writing most of it- I mean, either Jetty is a Scyllinoë shipper in disguise trying to get Scylla to admit how horrendously down bad she is for Mel, or Scylla’s lying through her teeth (like she did when she said that I Am Gonna Claw is not about Mel lolol). Both options are incredibly funny for their own reasons heh.
I actually made a post about how Scylla sings the entirety of Bewitching Eyes as opposed to Jetty and Roxy who only sing the pre choruses and choruses! Which... is pretty telling imho 😭 Besides, you don’t sing your ass off like that if there’s no feelings involved, Scylla, pls bffr, you were singing those 2nd and 3rd choruses with your whole heart and then some who are you trying to fool hereee 😭 (Mel, obv, and she succeeded, unfortunately *sobs*)
So yeah... methinks the chlam lady doth protest too much 🫡
Happy pride to everyone, but especially to this useless lesbian and her absolute banger of an 80s-love-power-ballad-esque thirst track that she swears is NOT how she truly feels because “it’s called a fictionalized work” and which she most definitely did NOT write herself, any and all similarities in the lyrics pointing at her are ENTIRELY coincidence, pinky promise with glitter and shiny pearls on top 💙✨️
Rest in piece, Sappho of Lesbos, O Mother of WLW, you would’ve loved pining and yearning and blasting Bewitching Eyes 24/7 😔✊🏼
*grumbles* Mel and Scylla should’ve lezzed out, dammit. Lowkey homophobic that they didn’t methinks *grumbles*
[looking at people younger than me] you have your whole life ahead of you [looking at people older than me] you have your whole life ahead of you [looking at myself] its over
Happy pride to everyone, but especially to this useless lesbian and her absolute banger of an 80s-love-power-ballad-esque thirst track that she swears is NOT how she truly feels because “it’s called a fictionalized work” and which she most definitely did NOT write herself, any and all similarities in the lyrics pointing at her are ENTIRELY coincidence, pinky promise with glitter and shiny pearls on top 💙✨️
Rest in piece, Sappho of Lesbos, O Mother of WLW, you would’ve loved pining and yearning and blasting Bewitching Eyes 24/7 😔✊🏼
*grumbles* Mel and Scylla should’ve lezzed out, dammit. Lowkey homophobic that they didn’t methinks *grumbles*
Hell yeah, shout-out to them and to all Scylla fans, hear hear!! 🫡 I love her too, she’s my #1 character of the whole Hadesverse by far, she’s just so- aaaaaa!!
And yeah, Scyllinoë is beautiful ship name. I also adore the lesser-known alt one: clamwitch. Or chlamwitch, if we take the game’s spelling of "chlam" into consideration. All options are *chef’s kiss* anyway.
If not a canon love interest, why have such good ship names? If not a canon love interest, why love interest shaped? If not a canon love interest, why Bewitching Eyes?
Smh smh.
(So sorry for the rant, I get sooo excited about Scylla and Scyllinoë sjsjsjs cheers!!)
Happy pride to everyone, but especially to this useless lesbian and her absolute banger of an 80s-love-power-ballad-esque thirst track that she swears is NOT how she truly feels because “it’s called a fictionalized work” and which she most definitely did NOT write herself, any and all similarities in the lyrics pointing at her are ENTIRELY coincidence, pinky promise with glitter and shiny pearls on top 💙✨️
Rest in piece, Sappho of Lesbos, O Mother of WLW, you would’ve loved pining and yearning and blasting Bewitching Eyes 24/7 😔✊🏼
*grumbles* Mel and Scylla should’ve lezzed out, dammit. Lowkey homophobic that they didn’t methinks *grumbles*
