Saint James Infirmary #1202: “Lovefest”

[Daphne]

Script: Daphne • Line Art: Plutonian Knight • Colors and Lettering: Octavia Moon

[grimtidings]

I feel like I've been here before.

Wanting, desperately, to see someone besides Adrian come out on top.

But this pocket-dimension always comes up Adrian.

However, I will hazard a tentative, "I like where this is going lately." (well, except for the expanded chests problem but a spoonful of sugar...)

[raven]

I like Adrian, especially with the slightly darker twist lately. If I may ask, why do you dislike him?

[Haight]

I feel like I've been here before.

Wanting, desperately, to see someone besides Adrian come out on top.

But this pocket-dimension always comes up Adrian.

However, I will hazard a tentative, "I like where this is going lately." (well, except for the expanded chests problem but a spoonful of sugar...)

Well if Adrian embraced the mind control side of things would you change your tune? Or do you just want to see him lose?

[GodWilling]

For me there's nothing to dislike about Adrian because there's nothing to Adrian. Which is not to say I wish him ill; but the only heat that ever comes from his harem arises when someone else attempts to steal members from it. And even that's not necessarily his fault. I couldn't possibly spend a decade reading a comic where one man has a bunch of women under his control and get any heat from that whatsoever. The heat for me is in the power shifting from the victim to the controller. Although I will say that watching power shift to someone who isn't going to abuse it... that's about as hot as watching the victim switching to a different bank. Which is why I can't understand why anyone wants to see Adrian's harem expanding.

I'm mainly here for the plot. And from that point of view, I don't care who wins; I just want a plot that keeps progressing. I'll take the odd bit of heat as a bonus.

[Haight]

For me there's nothing to dislike about Adrian because there's nothing to Adrian. Which is not to say I wish him ill; but the only heat that ever comes from his harem arises when someone else attempts to steal members from it. And even that's not necessarily his fault. I couldn't possibly spend a decade reading a comic where one man has a bunch of women under his control and get any heat from that whatsoever. The heat for me is in the power shifting from the victim to the controller. Although I will say that watching power shift to someone who isn't going to abuse it... that's about as hot as watching the victim switching to a different bank. Which is why I can't understand why anyone wants to see Adrian's harem expanding.

Well I think people are hoping that Adrian would actually, you know, expand his harem. Which would involve what you're talking about.

[grimtidings]

... that's about as hot as watching the victim switching to a different bank.

GodWilling basically summed up my annoyance with the Adrians of the mind control Universe. And this line, in particular, is absolutely brilliant.

I'm bored with seeing some lucky schmoe have everything and do nothing of note with it. Adrian is as likable as a trust fund billionaire that never worked for a dime in his life but has legions of managers, lawyers and lobbyists on retainer to protect and expand that wealth. Sure he could use that power for something... but he'd rather just chill because he can.

Why does he do what he does? Well, why not?

[joshbain]

Given the Miriam content in whatever Kanti was programed to do, I am very curious about how those threads will connect  / collide.

Certainly the introduction of more dynamic elements is always fun.

[Haight]

... that's about as hot as watching the victim switching to a different bank.

GodWilling basically summed up my annoyance with the Adrians of the mind control Universe. And this line, in particular, is absolutely brilliant.

I'm bored with seeing some lucky schmoe have everything and do nothing of note with it. Adrian is as likable as a trust fund billionaire that never worked for a dime in his life but has legions of managers, lawyers and lobbyists on retainer to protect and expand that wealth. Sure he could use that power for something... but he'd rather just chill because he can.

Why does he do what he does? Well, why not?

Well unfortunately the "good" mind control story protagonist is oftentimes portrayed as passive, because for some people if he actually does any mind control then he immediately crosses the moral event horizon and becomes a villain, and for others male characters pursuing, whether via mind control or other means, is either something that squicks them out or immoral.

So the "schmuck lucksacks his way into a harem of hotties who are in love with him" is a consistent trope in mind control stories. It unfortunately usually makes for unsatisfying ones, in the end.

[grimtidings]

I have a counter to that - the active inactive loser-hero of eons ago - The Realtor.

My (Brief, New, Real Estate) Career by D. Holzer

To spoil it... we have a guy who INTENDED to become an evil mind controller... got overmatched by his first "victim" (Brief)... discovers that real evil mind controllers actually exist as one tries to steal his girl (New)... and then decides to take up MC-Busting as his life mission (Real Estate).

It's a comedy and written as an inside joke but I found the protagonist endearing and likable because (while his partner is "in charge") he first drives the story (Brief), retaliates against the story driving him (New), and then drives the story again (Real Estate).

In St. James Infirmary... the story happens to Adrian and he pushes back to restore the status quo with maybe a bonus woman or two added to his collection. I found myself cheering for his villains because they, at least, want something and are striving to get it.

So it's not so much a rebellion against nice guys I'm trying to communicate... it's a rebellion against protagonists who aren't striving for a goal (thank you for triggering that angle of the thought, Haight!)

And, as an aside, I think my subconscious picked this thread to talk about Adrian because the comic was titled "Lovefest".

[elenchos]

...
In St. James Infirmary... the story happens to Adrian and he pushes back to restore the status quo with maybe a bonus woman or two added to his collection. I found myself cheering for his villains because they, at least, want something and are striving to get it.
...

Yup. He's a nice guy, and that can be boring in the context of an MC story. Something like what Miriam's doing, or what we've seen recently with the twins and Compton, is hot.
Adrian being conflicted and ultimately doing nothing is ... not. It's certainly in keeping with his character as developed over the course of the saga.

I think Daphne maintains an excellent, broad range of possible MCer behavior when you look at the site as a whole. In SJI, though, Adrian is so anodyne as to be, well, as interesting as watching someone change banks. (Thanks, GodWililng.) Good luck, villains!

Edit: Usage error fix, a bit extra on Adrian

[grimtidings]

...Something like what Miriam's doing, or what we've seen recently with the twins and Compton, is hot.

Yes.

And I shiver to think Adrian is, exactly, Adrian for some grand purpose. But, if he's the Jar Jar Binks of this Universe, you can't blame me for groaning every time I see him!

[Haight]

Adrian being conflicted and ultimately doing nothing is ... not. It's certainly in keeping with his character as developed over the course of the saga.

Maybe. Early on there were hints that he would realize that being passive/doing nothing would end up losing him everything. We haven't seen that play out.

[grimtidings]

I think we need an add-on for this forum to allow thumbs-up or something. I want to both let the last word stand AND acknowledge that it's insightful and that I agree with it.

Adrian being conflicted and ultimately doing nothing is ... not. It's certainly in keeping with his character as developed over the course of the saga.

Maybe. Early on there were hints that he would realize that being passive/doing nothing would end up losing him everything. We haven't seen that play out.

<3