Saint James Infirmary #865: “Great and Infamous”

[Daphne]

Script: Daphne • Inks: Plutonian Knight • Colors and Lettering: Octavia Moon

[Haight]

Have no idea what's going on here.

[Daphne]

Have no idea what's going on here.

Yesterday was the fantasy, this is the reality.

[mns_95125]

That was my thought, but Anya's hair is very different than it is in #851.  The mouse over text seems to confirm that, but if as it says the hair we see isn't real then what is it?

[Haight]

Have no idea what's going on here.

Yesterday was the fantasy, this is the reality.

Sure, but what's the boundary between them mean? Why isn't Adrian conscious of "reality" like these two women are?

I still have no idea what's going on.

[mns_95125]

We've seen some evidence that women programmed by Danielle at the student clinic have been having 'fantasy flashes' of themselves in various sexually submissive situations.  This looks like another of those.  The differences from earlier instances are three.  First, the fantasy was in its own comic and not just an inset panel.  Second, we saw Adrian in the fantasy.  Third, the post-fantasy scene seemed to still have fantastic elements, specifically the girls' hairstyles.

My assumption is that the programming is having some kind of unexpected and escalating side effect.

[Daphne]

if as it says the hair we see isn't real then what is it?

Wigs!

[GodWilling]

In 850 Amaltheia had what appeared to be a vivid fantasy about being Miriam's slave. We last saw her heading for what looked like the bedroom to await Miriam's arrival. In 863 the fantasy seems to have expanded somewhat while she lies on her bed masturbating.

In 851 we saw Rachel and Anya sharing a similar vivid fantasy inspired by / themed around one of Rachel's (?) "renaissance" outfits. Afterwards Rachel reveals that she has another costume. Their outfits in the fantasy in 864 (which isn't historically accurate) are a development of those in the first one.

What's confusing is that there appears to be a mingling at the start of 864 with what's happening in The Cloud, with Adrian initially being shown asleep in a near copy of the last time we saw him hopefully dead. The script implies that their fantasy is linked to Adrian's death. However, in reality they don't appear to know who Adrian is, let alone what has happened to him in The Cloud.

I think that all we can conclude is that we're seeing further evidence that the burst of fantasies in 850 to 852 were tied to events in The Cloud. The Cloud, after all, seems to be some kind of fantasy land.

For what it's worth, we know that Anya and Rachel are former patients of Zenon, as indeed is Dani, who last programmed them. Dani's visit to Zenon was instrumental in the creation of Adrian's harem, which would presumably otherwise have been the harem of Zenon's associate in the field, Derek. Dani's sessions with the women appeared to include taking naked photos and videos of them, similar to the photos we've seen of the New York harem women.

However, I don't think we have any evidence that Amaltheia is a former patient of Zenon. Although, at a stretch, she is Miriam's slave, and Jakob used the pendant on Miriam.

[Haight]

Thanks. That makes way more sense now.

[jmundt29]

I'm hoping, the even more annoying doofus we saw think he spectrally killed Adrian has just been proven to have made a Voldemort blunder because Adrian in the cloud is projecting into other women's fantasies and New Doofus is completely unaware of it.  Killing Adrian and replacing him with Vik or Jakob or New Doofus (if that isn't aged Jakob) is grounds for a rage-quit.

[elenchos]

Thanks. That makes way more sense now.

What Haight said.

...
Killing Adrian and replacing him with Vik or Jakob or New Doofus (if that isn't aged Jakob) is grounds for a rage-quit.

Because Adrian is an excellent MCer, right? That’s why we like him?

[GodWilling]

...
Killing Adrian and replacing him with Vik or Jakob or New Doofus (if that isn't aged Jakob) is grounds for a rage-quit.

Because Adrian is an excellent MCer, right? That’s why we like him?

LOL. I don't think it's going to happen, but the idea that the current cover actually depicts one of the remnants of Adrian's harem having been sold into a life of slavery at Van Winkle's by the evil new master is more than a little attractive to me.

It is possible that Adrian is intending to live on in the minds of his slaves, much as Jakob did with Cherry. But it isn't clear to me where Amaltheia's fantasy fits into that. And Dani seemed to be programming Zenon's former patients to respond to a text, rather than an olde worlde dress, or a fish tank.

EDIT:
Oh yeah, and didn't the plan to reprogram Zenon's patients seem to come from Astrid via Caitlyn (another of Zenon's former patients)?