Banshees, Brats, and Brains (More meta)
Sep. 4th, 2015 08:22 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
not_yet_screamingLydia Martin has always been a Banshee, and it's at the root of quite a lot of her personality.
Put simply there has always been a sussurus of voices on the edge of Lydia's hearing, and many of them have been whispering things she didn't want to hear (after activation they just became a whole lot louder). She thinks it's just normal and just her imagination (none of them are strong enough to hear as voices). Which means that she's never really wanted to be alone with herself - and certainly not to relax or meditate. Two things shut them out easily - concentration and real people. Lydia left by herslef will therefore always find something to do or to explore or to learn, all in order to avoid being surrounded by silence. (A lot of banshees both before and after activation turn to drinking to keep away the voices - they are normally either very sparky or very dull).
So Lydia spends her time on her own learning stuff (she was always smart - but it's amplified by the fact she never stops because she doesn't want to be alone) and her time with people trying to make sure there isn't silence; it doesn't matter what the attention is but comfortable silences ... aren't. And the voices are at their worst when she's on the edge of sleep.
But there is an upside. Sometimes when she's working on something they try and help. Sometimes it works. She learned to read ridiculously young because at the time in the cloud around her were both a librarian and a primary teacher who'd work together whenever she got stuck so she could figure out the word in question. And because they were helping her they could get through.
And this doesn't count the ones living vicariously through her. The ones who subliminally point out things they wish they could still do. All too quiet for her to hear unless what they are suggesting aligns with something she actually wants.
But make no mistake about it - the brains, the skills, and the decisions are all hers. She's just had better teachers along the way than anyone including she realises. And she's been seeking out new things to learn ever since she started to learn to talk (again very early - there was almost a chorus of whatever any word she wanted was; the voices haven't been as unified since). She may have had a head start, but she's built on it.
Put simply there has always been a sussurus of voices on the edge of Lydia's hearing, and many of them have been whispering things she didn't want to hear (after activation they just became a whole lot louder). She thinks it's just normal and just her imagination (none of them are strong enough to hear as voices). Which means that she's never really wanted to be alone with herself - and certainly not to relax or meditate. Two things shut them out easily - concentration and real people. Lydia left by herslef will therefore always find something to do or to explore or to learn, all in order to avoid being surrounded by silence. (A lot of banshees both before and after activation turn to drinking to keep away the voices - they are normally either very sparky or very dull).
So Lydia spends her time on her own learning stuff (she was always smart - but it's amplified by the fact she never stops because she doesn't want to be alone) and her time with people trying to make sure there isn't silence; it doesn't matter what the attention is but comfortable silences ... aren't. And the voices are at their worst when she's on the edge of sleep.
But there is an upside. Sometimes when she's working on something they try and help. Sometimes it works. She learned to read ridiculously young because at the time in the cloud around her were both a librarian and a primary teacher who'd work together whenever she got stuck so she could figure out the word in question. And because they were helping her they could get through.
And this doesn't count the ones living vicariously through her. The ones who subliminally point out things they wish they could still do. All too quiet for her to hear unless what they are suggesting aligns with something she actually wants.
But make no mistake about it - the brains, the skills, and the decisions are all hers. She's just had better teachers along the way than anyone including she realises. And she's been seeking out new things to learn ever since she started to learn to talk (again very early - there was almost a chorus of whatever any word she wanted was; the voices haven't been as unified since). She may have had a head start, but she's built on it.
no subject
Date: 2015-09-07 12:15 am (UTC)Has there ever been a time when she was pressured by any of those voices in her head?
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Date: 2015-09-07 08:35 am (UTC)Comfortable silences? Not with many people that often but occasionally with Jackson, Danny, Allison, and even late season Stiles (not that he's good at them). Rarely with Jackson because most even of her voices don't like him much.
Pressured? The first individual to bring that much pressure was Peter. Generally to get her to take notice takes a lot of voices together- which means they mostly get through to her when telling her what common sense might. Normally "Don't!" Or "Look out!" Or "Not that way!" (She doesn't know that she's twice dodged a roofie thanks to the warnings but seldom does anything that causes that strong a response). Normally it's crosstalk at most and she just hears the tone of voice.
The exception is that when trying on clothes or trying something out in front of a mirror when she takes a second to "imagine how people will react". Again normally it's just tone she hears but one reason she doesn't mess up fashion is precisely this audience (especially if she says what she wants the clothes for).